Embers of the Republic
by FR0ST16
Summary: The Rebellion is on the brink of defeat in their fight against the Galactic Empire. Most rebels have either died or deserted since their defeat at the Battle of Yavin, leaving only the remains of Phoenix Squadron to fight off the Empire. One year later, Ezra considers desertion, he discovers something that can change the course of their fight for the better.
1. Hard Times

Chapter 1

We aren't doing good at all in our fight against the Empire. Everyday we lose more people to Imperial blaster fire, and not to mention we're losing ships faster than we can replace them. Our moral isn't helping either. We haven't won even the smallest fights against the Empire and even some pirate gangs have turned their backs on us. Everything started out so well and now we're on the brink of defeat. Hera of course refuses to surrender and we all stand with her, but now even I'm beginning to question our chances.

...

I woke up with a pounding headache and could barely open my eyes. Even when I forced my eyes open, they shut themselves tight. The lights were too bright.

 _"We need to get him to the medical bay, now!"_

Medical bay? Why? What happened?

I tried to open my eyes again, but something was stuck into my arm then removed just as fast. Everything went dark for me.

...

...

"Is he alright?"

"He's stable. His armor stopped most of the shrapnel but some of it managed to slip through the..."

 _What was that last part?_

I managed to open my eyes again and quickly raised my arm to block out the light, but then groaned in pain. I heard rapid footsteps and people telling me to take it easy.

"Where am I? What happened?" I asked.

"That's not important right now," somebody said to me. "Just relax and focus on recovering."

"Recovering..." I said, the room seemed to be spinning.

"You were hurt during an op," a medic, or somebody I assumed was a medic told me.

"What... happened?" I asked. The medical drugs were starting to kick in again. I could barely stay awake.

I must have passed out before anybody could answer.

...

Next thing I remember, I could hear the steady beeps of a heart monitor and I slowly opened my eyes. I only saw white; the ceiling, the walls, the floor, everything.

"You're finally awake," a familiar voice said next to me. Just hearing that voice made my heart leap a little. I turned my head to the woman who said that.

"Sabine?" I said groggily. I was so tired.

"The one and only. How do you feel?" she asked me with a small smile.

"Tired. Very tired," I said.

"Do you feel any pain?"

I shook my head.

"Good. That accident..." she suddenly stopped talking and she bit her lip.

"What happened?"

"It was a failed op, again. We lost almost everybody in our squad this time. Wedge barely made it himself but he's alright. As for you..." She paused again and took a breath, "You were trying to cover everybody as they escaped to their ships. The Empire found us again and you wanted to make sure everybody made it. You were on your way to the Ghost and a buckethead threw a grenade..."

A lump formed in my throat.

"I've never seen anything or anybody fly as far and as fast as you did. I think you tried to jump away at the last moment but the shrapnel still hit you."

I looked back towards the ceiling and sighed. "Zeb?"

"He's alright. He helped you back onto the Ghost."

"Hera..."

"Also safe. Kanan, too. He covered Zeb."

"How long was I out?"

"A couple days but I'm not surprised. The medics pumped a lot of whatever that stuff was into your system. And before you ask, nobody else knows you're awake. Can... can you stand?"

"I don't know." I replied.

Sabine stood up and walked out of the room for a moment, saying she would be right back. She soon came back in with a medical droid and he ran a quick scan over me.

"He'll be a bit unsteady since he's been out for so long, but he's healthy enough to stand," the droid said.

Sabine thanked the droid as it left the room and she helped me sit up. I felt like I was run over by a hundred speeder bikes.

"You can do this, Ezra," Sabine said as she helped me stand up.

I wobbled a bit but soon gained my balance again.

"My injury was that bad, huh?" I asked with a sigh.

"Some of the pieces found their way into your legs. Fortunately it didn't hit anything major," Sabine said with a small laugh of relief.

"Great!" I said.

I managed to get walking again and found a set of fresh clothes lying on a chair next to the bed. I picked up the shirt and checked it out. It was a grey shirt with forest camo pants to go with it.

"We couldn't save your normal clothes. We don't have the supplies to patch them up," Sabine said. "This is all we could get for you for right now."

"It's alright," I said, though I really wish I could wear my normal orange shirt. I finished getting dressed and Sabine led me to the command center where Hera and the rest of the group were waiting for me.

"Ezra!" Hera exclaimed as I entered the room. I received a couple hugs and some pats to the shoulder.

"Hey guys!" I said.

"Glad you're alright, man," Wedge said.

"I heard things got close with you, too," I replied.

"Not as close as you did obviously. If it wasn't for Sabine you wouldn't be here."

I looked to Sabine, "I thought you said Zeb got me."

Sabine looked away and wouldn't meet my eyes.

"I did," Zeb said as he walked up. "Sabine just called out that you were down. Nobody would have seen you."

I looked back to Sabine who still wouldn't meet my gaze. Then I realized something else that was bothering me and I could tell she was bothered by it, too.

"Where's everybody else?" I asked.

"Some people are back in their rooms, others in the mess hall and hangar; not a lot though. We're all that's left," Hera said sadly.

"We lost almost half of our people back there," Rex said. "We need more recruits and fast."

"Yeah but where will we get them? My family won't help us and nobody wants to join!" Sabine said bitterly.

"We don't have a lot of ships left either. We're down to our last transports and only two CR-90s," Hera said.

An argument of 'what we should do next' began and I started to feel dizzy again so I took my leave and left the room. I walked down the halls a little ways and came across a large window. I peered out and saw only stars.

"Polis Massa," Sabine said from behind me.

"What?"

"We're at Polis Massa. It's our last spot and I'm sure it won't be long before the Empire locates it. Tension's been at its highest since that last mission."

"I didn't realize you saw me leave," I said then.

"Of course I noticed," she said. "I was about to head out of that room anyways and I saw you already left."

I nodded and looked back out into space.

"Is there any authorization to leave the base?" I asked.

I guess that caught Sabine by surprise because she was giving me a strange look.

"Is there?"

"Not a lot but... You're not deserting... are you?"

"I don't know what I want to do anymore honestly," I said.

"Ezra..."

"I just want to... scout around I guess. I need some space to myself."

"Scout the base?"

"No... I wanted to just head out somewhere and get some space."

"Ezra what if we get caught by the Empire doing that? They could track us back here!"

"You said it was only a matter of time before they found us anyway. And I didn't mean go near any Imperials I just..."

"You just what? We save your life and now you want to leave?" Sabine snapped.

"No I... I didn't mean that!"

"Are you sure? Because pretty much everybody that's deserted said the exact same thing you just did!"

I didn't know what else to say. There wasn't anything else to say. Sabine turned around and stormed off leaving me alone at the window. I turned around and punched the wall, nearly denting the metal. It hurt like crazy but I didn't care.

I began making my way to the Hangar and found the Starbird waiting for me. We left it here about a year ago when we started losing one battle after another. We weren't supposed to be going out by ourselves anymore. Whoever went out had to be with their squad or crew. That was the last major executive order Mon Mothma gave before her transport blew up just a week later.

I boarded Starbird and began the startup sequence when I heard the cockpit doors open behind me.

"What do you want now?" I growled.

"Ezra don't do this... please," Sabine said.

"You were just yelling at me a few minutes ago," I said.

"I know but we don't want you to leave us! Not like this, we need all the help we can get!"

"I told you I wasn't deserting!" I snapped.

Sabine fell quiet as I glared at her.

"Hera saw your ship starting up... I got here as fast as I could," she began. "She didn't want you to go alone."

"She told you..."

"No I volunteered," Sabine interrupted.

I was silent for a while.

"Fine," I muttered before finishing the startup and piloting my ship out of the hangar.

"Where are we going anyway?" Sabine asked me.

"Like I said, I don't know."

I set the Nav computer to calculate random coordinates and pretty soon I had some coordinates. Before I could jump to hyperspace, my comms unit was going off.

"What?" I asked whoever was trying to contact me.

"Ezra, it's me, Hera. We just picked up something strange on our scanners. Some sort of beacon set to a frequency only we use."

"Alright?" I urged her to continue.

"I'm assigning you and Sabine to take a small crew of volunteers to check it out. You'll use one of our last CR-90s," Hera said.

I didn't want to leave my ship back in that damned hangar.

"I'm keeping my ship with me," I said.

"That's fine with me just go check it out." Silence for a few moments. "There's one more thing," she began. "This beacon isn't in any known star system. It's in completely unexplored space."

(Not the place where the First Order went)

"I'll recalculate my computer then," I said before shutting off the comms. My anger faded a bit.

"Ezra our corvette is here. They're ready and waiting on you," Sabine said.

"Coordinates locked on. You hear me over there?"

"Loud and clear, sir," the captain of the corvette said. "Let's be cautious. It could be pirates in a secret hyperspace route."

"Doubt it," Sabine coughed.

"Here we go. Follow my lead," I said as I pushed the throttle to maximum, throwing my ship into hyperspace.

"Well how long do we have until we get there?" I asked Sabine who was looking at the power monitors.

She sat back in her seat and sighed, "Two hours. That's four hours total with just you in here to argue with."

"You're still mad at me aren't you..." I said.

"What if I am?" she said.

"Look I'm sorry. It's just everything's been..."

"Hard for everyone, Ezra. It's not just you," she snapped, but her voice sounded like it was about to break.

"Sabine..."

"Just shut up, Ezra. If you want to leave everybody behind, then go ahead. I won't stop you."

"That's not fair," I countered.

"Nothing's fair anymore. Just going to have to deal with it," she said before storming out of the cockpit, but not before adding, "I don't know why I even volunteered to help you."

I just sat in the pilot seat in silence as the door slid shut.

I sighed and placed my head in my hands.

"Kriff, what's happened to everything? Why did this have to happen?"

...

Two hours later, my nav computer began beeping and I brought Starbird out of hyperspace right around where that beacon was. Seconds later my CR-90 escort appeared next to me. We were not too far from a star and judging by the scans it formed about 20 years ago.

"You guys alright over there?" I asked them through the comms.

"Yup. So far nothing on our scopes. What about you?"

"All clear over here," I replied.

Turns out they entire crew on that corvette heard my argument with Sabine, which only made me feel worse. They asked me about it and I couldn't hold it from them. These guys didn't deserve what everybody's been getting. Sabine's never returned to the cockpit this entire trip and I'm pretty sure I heard some banging from my room so I figured she was trying to break something. I thought back to Polis Massa and realized I couldn't recall ever retrieving my lightsaber. My hand flew to my belt and sure enough it wasn't there.

"You have got to be kidding me!" I yelled.

"What's wrong, sir? Imperials?"

"No it's just... I don't think I retrieved my lightsaber!"

"That's not good. Let's hope we don't have to go through any combat then."

"Agreed. Any eyes on whatever's been causing that beacon?" I asked.

"I got nothing on that either. This feels like a trap to me."

"I'm not sensing any danger," I said.

"Then we're clear?"

"Maybe."

"That's not helping."

"Sorry," I said. I pressed a button for the ship-wide comms. "Sabine can you come to the cockpit? I could use some extra eyes up here."

Moments later the door opened and a still relatively angry Sabine walked in and sat in the copilot's chair without saying a single word. Instead she just concentrated on the scanners.

I had a quick mental debate whether I should say something or not and decided it best not to say anything to her at all.

"What you're not going to ask me if there's anything on here?" she asked bitterly.

"Well you didn't say anything did you? I took it as there's nothing here," I shot back.

"Hey you two calm down. We still have a job to do."

"He's right, Ezra," Sabine said.

"If you don't want to be here then you can leave! I can't deal with your attitude right now!" I shouted at Sabine.

"Since when were you all mature all of a sudden? Acting all grown up!"

"Sabine!"

"What?"

"Hey guys?"

I was standing nose to nose with Sabine right now, both of us blowing off serious steam.

"What's gotten into you?" I asked her.

"I don't know, maybe the fact that you were going to desert!" she yelled at me. "That you were thinking of leaving us! Leaving me!"

That got everybody on both ships quiet.

"Did I just hear that correctly?" a bridge officer on the CR-90 asked, clearly audible to me through the comms.

There was no reply so I figured the captain either nodded or shrugged.

I guess I had a shocked look on my face because Sabine shook her head and looked back to her station, sitting back down in her seat. I didn't move. I just stood there like an idiot and stared at her. Her shoulders jumped a couple times and I could feel her despair. Her anger was gone and replaced by sadness.

"Sabine I..." I tried to say and for once she didn't interrupt. I couldn't finish it. This was all too much to take in right now. Without saying another word, I sat back down in my own seat and sighed. We have lost so many of our friends to the Empire. Then people began to desert and that didn't help the situation.

"There's nothing here. Let's go home," I said.

"Wait just a second, Commander."

"What is it? Did you find something?" I asked.

"I think I know why we weren't getting anything on scanners."

He had my full attention now.

"Adjust course to 2-9-0 and look straight ahead," the captain ordered.

"2-9-0, got it. What am I looking for?"

"Something pretty big."

The Starbird finished its course change and I saw something in the distance.

"You guys stay here. I'm going in," I said as I pushed the engine throttle up to the max and sped towards the massive object.

We got close enough where I could slow down the ship and get a good look at it.

"Uh Sabine?"

"Yeah... I see it," she replied softly.

"Any idea what this is?" I asked her.

"I don't know, but it looks like there's an open hangar door over there," she said pointing a little to the right of us.

"Should we...?"

"I guess. We're here to see what's going on after all," she said.

I flew the Starbird into the open hangar and landed it, though I had to engage the magnetic locks on the landing gear that Sabine and I installed the year before.

"We're going to need those suits. They still in their cases?" I asked her and received a nod.

We both suited up and I opened the boarding ramp. Immediately, the energy shield we also installed engaged to prevent any air from escaping. I stepped through the shield and immediately floated through the hangar.

"I think you forgot to activate your EVA pack," Sabine mocked.

"Thank you for that observation," I replied sarcastically as I activated the pack.

"We should find the command center. The power controls should be there," Sabine said then.

"Lead the way," I said.

"I don't know where it is!"

"Like I said, lead the way."

Sabine rolled her eyes at me and flew towards the doors. I wasn't very far behind her. She managed to get the other door open and we floated the entire way to the command center, which happened to be at the top of some sort of tower extending from the center of the station.

"This should be it," Sabine said. "Look for the power control console."

"What makes you think this place still has power?" I asked her.

"Well considering this isn't like that abandoned medical station and actually looks stable, I say our chances this station still has power is pretty good."

"That makes sense," I said.

"Ezra..."

"I'm serious! Kriff just chill out will you?"

I floated to another console and checked all the panels. "I think I found it," I said as I pulled a switch.

Immediately, the lights began to flicker and then lit up at full efficiency. The gravity also started up so we didn't need the EVA packs anymore. As for the life support that was going to take some time to fill the station.

"What's the time for the life support?" Sabine asked me.

"About 10 minutes," I said.

I received a transmission on my wrist comm from the CR-90 outside the station.

"Hey guys I think the power jumped on, you alright in there?"

"Yeah we're good. There's nobody here and this place is in perfect condition... surprisingly," I said.

"Ezra..." Sabine said. Her voice sounded breathless as she looked down at a panel.

"What is it? Did you find something?" I asked her.

She turned around and faced me directly.

"Sabine?"

"This isn't any ordinary station, Ezra."

"What do you mean?"

"Holy bantha guys you should see this from out here," the CR-90 captain said.

"What do you mean?"

"The station is huge!" he said.

"Sabine?" I asked her.

"Ezra this is an old Republic shipyard! The roster on here is still up to date and everything!" she turned to me as she said this. "It says here there's ships just on the other side from where we docked!"

"What kind of ships?" I asked.

"I don't know exactly, but we should check this out!" she said excitedly and she wasn't alone.

We both ran down several corridors, the power levels completely stable, and even the turbolifts were functioning at peak performance. Eventually we made to the correct hangar and we opened the door. Sabine just about dropped the datapad she grabbed from the command center at the sight.

"No way..." I sighed.

Right in front of us was a good amount of LAAT gunships and loads of resource crates and ammunition.

"Loot?" I suggested.

Sabine shook her head, "I have a better idea. What are our coordinates?"

I grinned already catching what she was thinking, "I'll call them."

Sabine walked over to the gunships as I tapped a button on my wrist comm.

"Ezra, is something wrong?" Hera asked.

"Actually I think we just found exactly what we needed. Come to these coordinates... and bring everybody."

"What did you find?" Hera asked.

"Gunships, resources, ammunition... Hera, I think we just found an old Republic shipyard!"


	2. Legendary Warship

**Chapter 2**

I watched as our last 4 transports and our last CR-90 appeared from hyperspace. Our other corvette has already docked in the hangar bay with the _Starbird_ and they have already inspected every last crate. They even found some construction droids, but their power cells were dead. Apparently they were working so hard before the station was abandoned their power cells blew out. Basically they blew a fuse.

"Ezra this is Hera, do you read?"

I lifted my hand to my mouth, the station radio in my hand, "Load and clear. These comms still work perfectly. Proceed to Bay 2."

"Which one's Bay 2?" Hera asked.

"Just off to your right. The one that's still open," I said, grinning.

I heard a small chuckle behind me and turned around.

"You seem to have gotten better," Sabine said.

I set down the radio and walked over to her.

"Sabine I never meant to..."

She held her hand up to silence me. "I know. I never should have snapped like that."

"It's just like you said, It's hard for everybody. I get it," I said.

"I know you never really meant to leave..." she said.

"I should never have let that come to mind in the first place," I said. "Are... are we good now?"

Sabine stared at me for a moment, then smiled. "Well we did just find an old abandoned shipyard in near perfect condition. I say we're more than good."

I smiled then, "Great! Now were you able to locate any power cells for those old builder droids?"

Sabine shook her head, "Not in storage or anywhere else. We might just have to go on a run."

Hera and everybody else walked into the room then, apparently hearing that part of the conversation.

"If that's the case you need to take your _Starbird_. The Empire has probably forgotten about it by now."

"If I know the Empire," Sabine said, "They don't forget easily. But it has been a year and they've seen all the ships we have now. I'd say it's a better shot."

I nodded in agreement.

"What would we need new power cells for anyway?" Kanan asked.

"Our guys that helped us here located some dead construction droids. With the decent amount of resources we could potentially build some ships. These hangars are large enough where it doubles as a drydock," Sabine explained.

"How big of ships?" Wedge asked.

Sabine grinned, "Each hangar is large enough to carry and repair a Capital size starship."

"Capital ships?" Hera asked.

"Apparently," I said.

"I mean, yeah the station looks huge but able to fully dock up to four capital ships?" Wedge asked.

"Plus some external docking ports. This station was designed to house a Republic battle fleet. Complete with the standard amount of Venator-class star destroyers and the usual amount of the Acclamator-class assault ships," Sabine said.

"That's a bit overkill..." a pilot said.

"What we have here is exactly overkill, but despite all the resources we found here, it's not enough to build a capital ship just yet. Maybe a few CR-90s at best," Sabine said.

"You already made an inventory of everything?" Hera asked.

"Did you forget she's a Mandalorian, Hera?" I asked jokingly. "I mean, when it comes to these sort of things they are quicker than everything."

"Not entirely wrong," Sabine said.

"Alright back to business," Hera said, motioning for everybody to gather around the holotable. "Sabine do you have any ideas?"

Sabine nodded and activated the holo, a hologram of a Venator-class star destroyer appearing. "For anybody who doesn't know what a Venator looks like, this is it. However this design is heavily outdated as is the weaponry involved with it."

"If anything all the systems are outdated," I added.

"Exactly. Anything we'd have to add to make it up to date with modern ships will alter the design, if we're lucky, only a little bit," Sabine said, tapping on the console. She was switching the outdated systems with more modern systems; the weapons, shields, engines, eventually the design looked exactly how Sabine said it would.

"The twin bridges are connected?" Hera asked.

"Separated, but connected, yes," Sabine said. "The front should have a special beam cannon as well."

"Dual cannon!" somebody shouted.

"Alright, possibly a dual beam cannon design," Sabine said, altering the design a bit more. "The armor would be thicker as well, potentially making it slower with the old engines. However with the new, it would still be relative same speeds."

"Why would we need beam cannons at the front?" Wedge asked.

"The Venators didn't really have any official forward batteries. Anything that fired ahead of the vessel was the primary batteries on the sides that had the right firing angle, and maybe some broadside turbolasers that could turn that far forward," Sabine said. "This will give our new ship the firepower it needs for forward combat. Also, late during the Clone War there were cannons installed in the ventral hangars that were originally used on stun tanks, but those only were useful against ships below the vessel. If we put those in front we could have a good advantage."

"Hold on a second," I said. "Bring up the schematics for an Imperial star destroyer real quick will you?"

"Why?"

"I'm curious about something," I said.

"Alright, one Imperial star destroyer coming up."

A blue ISD appeared next to Sabine's VSD.

"Can you bring up the old VSD?" I asked then. "Sorry if I'm asking for too much."

"Actually I see what you're getting at," Sabine said as she brought up a normal VSD.

The first VSD looked a bit smaller than the ISD, and despite Sabine's modifications, her design still looked smaller.

"The Venator is still a lot smaller..." I said.

"That's the other problem, but we can figure it out. We always seem to be good at that, right?" Sabine replied.

I smiled at her and she returned the smile, then quickly went back to the designing. "Something the old venators didn't have was primary batteries on the ventral hull. Everything was topside; not to mention some secondary anti-ship and flak cannons stationed alongside the port and starboard sides of the ship, but those were only good for broadside attacks, a venator's strong suit until the Imperial ships were developed.

Imperial ships have more cannon batteries than the old Venator ships, but we could change that."

"This is a lot to take in all so suddenly," Wedge said.

"You're not alone," Hobbie said.

"So what of the LAAT gunships in one of the hangars?" Wedge asked then.

"Well this new venator design would have to remove the hangar doors on the dorsal side of the ship's hull. The port and starboard hangar bays will remain as will the ventral bay. These gunships won't be going anywhere until we build something that can carry them; not necessarily this new ship but anything," Sabine said.

A rebel engineer raised his hand and I let him speak.

"I know we're not doing great with anything right now and all, but don't you think this is all happening too fast? I mean, we should wait until we're settling down here to do any real planning."

"As much fun as this is, you're absolutely right," Sabine said. "But this also gives us something real to work for."

"So we've checked out the two hangars right?" I asked Sabine then and she nodded. "Has anybody checked out the other two hangars?"

"I don't think so," Sabine said.

"You two should go clear those out now," Hera said to me and Sabine.

"Alright," I said, then I looked back to Sabine, "After you."

Sabine smiled and ran off out the door and down the hallway; I was not far behind. After a matter of minutes, we made it to Hangar bay 3 and we opened the doors. There were parts of metal and some broken ships; Y-wings, more LAAT gunships, and a lot of parts.

"More good stuff," Sabine noted as we inspected all of it.

I jumped up onto one of the Y-wings and grinned

"Sabine, many of these Y-wings are still in decent shape!" I exclaimed. "If we can finish repairing them we could rebuild our bomber wing!"

Sabine climbed up onto my Y-wing and checked it's systems without activating it. "You're right! However we still don't have enough pilots to fly all of these."

"That's also true," I said sadly.

Our defeat at Yavin 4 crushed everybody, but fortunately most of us made it out alive. We still had a decent fighting chance, but that defeat also killed not only many of our friends, but our moral and fighting spirit as well. Many people deserted afterwards and we couldn't stop them. We haven't won a single battle since.

This station could change all of that for the better! The Death Star is still roaming the galaxy, its presence tightening the Empire's grip on power but we still never gave up. We know it can be defeated, but... obviously we don't have the manpower to do so.

If we do manage to build one new Venator ship, I don't think we have enough people to operate it.

"Sabine..." I began.

"Hm?"

"I was just thinking... If we do successfully construct our first new capital ship, we don't have enough people to operate it," I said.

"Ezra..." she began. "You're right, but all we really need is a bridge crew. Anybody that's not a starfighter pilot can be temporary bridge crew."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"It takes one person to control the engines, possibly another to work the hyperdrive. Then there's all the consoles and all that, but the weapons, engines, shields, all the primary systems are usually controlled by one station. We might not have enough people to fill the entire ship, but we certainly have enough to run the bridge."

I was completely speechless. This was all sounding too good.

"So... we could... we could actually operate it?"

"I read that a certain Jedi Knight flew the ship by himself... well actually had the help of an R2-D2 of course, but still. It doesn't take many to fly it, just a lot to operate it at its full potential. You get what I mean?"

I nodded and felt very excited.

"Come on, we still have one more hangar to check," she said then as she jumped off the Y-wing. I followed her out of the hangar and straight to the last one.

We opened the last hangar and we just about died. As soon as the doors opened, the lights came on and sitting inside was a full set of LAAT/c dropships and Y-wings, as well as a full complement of Republic walkers all of which were out of commision for repairs. There were some AT-TEs, a bunch of AT-RTs, and a couple RX-200 assault tanks. But what was most surprising, was what was clamped to the ceiling: an old Venator-class star destroyer.

"Speak of the devil..." Sabine muttered, her voice hollow.

"What is this still doing here?" I asked.

"Let's find out."

Sabine and I found a turbolift that led to a catwalk to the old warship. As we walked I looked down and gulped.

"We're really high up..." I said.

"Just don't look down and you'll be fine," Sabine said, not at all concerned about the height we're at.

We made it to the entrance to the ship and surprisingly enough, the doors opened when Sabine hit the panel. We found our way to the bridge and I guess my mouth was open because Sabine started laughing.

"What?" I asked.

"You're gawking," she laughed.

"Sorry I just... never seen this before."

"I haven't either," Sabine said.

"Maybe not in person but in holo vids and pictures," I remarked and she shrugged and nodded.

"Yeah that's true. Oh look, the command panel."

She ran over to the central holotable and looked around the room.

"If I remember correctly... Ah here we are," she said as some doors opened to reveal the true bridge. "Welcome aboard a Venator-class destroyer, Ezra Bridger."

"This... is probably the best day ever," I said.

"For us and the rebellion," Sabine agreed. She ran over to another console and checked the logs.

"Ezra can you turn on the power to this console over here?" she asked me.

"Sure..." I said as I struggled to find the power switch.

"Ahem," she coughed as she cocked her head to the power control console.

"Oh... right," I said sheepishly. I activated the power to the whole bridge and Sabine's console screen lit up.

"Here we are... These logs are about the ship status," Sabine said. She read the report.

"Um... okay then," I said. "What are you reading?"

"I'm reading the status log of this ship. It's got the ship name, class, and current status on it. Maybe there's something here that shows us why it's still here and not scrapped like all the other Venators," Sabine said.

"I'm going to call this in to Hera," I said.

"Go ahead," Sabine said as she continued searching through the logs.

I tapped the comm on my wrist and Hera picked up.

"Ezra, what's up?"

"Remember when we were talking about a new ship? Well turns out there's a Venator-class ship still here," I said.

This all seemed too good to be true.

"You're joking, right?" she asked me.

"No joke, Hera. Still works and everything!" I said.

"I'm dispatching a team to check it out. Great job you two," Hera said before shutting down the comm link.

"Alright, Hera knows. Uh Sabine? What are you doing?"

"Ezra, this isn't just any Venator-class star destroyer!"

"A battleship?"

"Not just a battleship Ezra! We found the freaking Resolute!"

"So?"

"You don't get it, do you? The Resolute was probably the most famous ship ever during the Clone War. It was commanded by Jedi General Anakin Skywalker, the most legendary Jedi ever!"

"Skywalker's ship?" I asked. I've heard about Anakin Skywalker several times, but I never thought I would be standing in his own ship.

"This ship was involved in several key battles. Though it was almost destroyed several times it always came back to haunt the Separatists! Just mentioning this ship to any of our deserters could bring them back! Resolute's presence in a battlefield usually gave the crews of other Republic warships a major moral boost!

It was unfortunately destroyed during a major battle, but they must have been rebuilding it. By the looks of it, it just finished completion when the war ended."

 **A/N: Let me just say not all of this is true (I'm sure) as this is mostly out of my imagination. I know it was destroyed at the battle of Sullust as well, but an AU is an AU. Even if it's a different era. Just deal with it.**

The next day, everybody was gathered around the old warship.

"We'll need to get those repair droids some new power cells to help fix that broken docking clamp," Hera said. "Ezra, Sabine. You two ready?"

"Definitely," we both said at the same time.

"Good. You might need this, Ezra," Kanan said as he handed me my lightsaber. "I never really had a chance to give it back to you after you woke up."

"Thanks," I said as I clipped it to my belt.

"Good luck you two. Come back safe," Hera said.

"Thanks. We will," Sabine said as we boarded the _Starbird_.

I jumped into the pilot's seat and Sabine climbed into the copilot's chair and we began startup protocols.

"Engines, check. Weapons, check. Shields, check. All systems green. Tower, on your mark," I said through the comms.

 _"This is tower, you are green for departure. Stay safe out there."_

I brought the _Starbird_ out of the hangar and jumped us to hyperspace, to wherever we can find something.

...

Hours later, we got in contact with a trader and made a deal. We were fortunate to get our hands on some credits and we met up with the guy and docked with his ship. Unfortunately for us, that guy was Vizago; one of the earliest deserters.

"Ah you guys made it! Wait a second you... Ezra Bridger?"

"Vizago..." I grumbled.

"What are you doing here?" Vizago hissed at us. "You're going to cause me a lot of trouble! I thought the Rebellion was beaten!"

"Keep a secret, will you?" I requested. "We're not even close to beaten. Now about our deal?"

"I can't make deals with you people," Vizago said. "The Empire's been tracking my progress in my business!"

"Alright suit yourself," I said. "I guess you won't get the 200 credits we owe for those power cells."

"Wait wait wait!" Vizago exclaimed. "I didn't mean it like that."

I turned around, "Of course you didn't."

"I trusted the rebellion before but those days are over. Nevertheless I'll give you the power cells you want. Anything to bring the rebellion back."

Visago handed me the power cells and I paid him the 200 credits we promised.

"And by the way, this is how the rebellion began in the first place," I said before leaving his ship and boarding the _Starbird_ again.

"That was fast," Sabine said after I sat down in my seat.

"He was surprised, but also seemed glad to see I was still alright," I said.

My comm panel started beeping then and I opened a channel.

"Hello?"

"Ezra... wait a second, please?"

"Vizago?"

"Can I board your ship?"

I looked at Sabine and she just shrugged, "Don't look at me, this is your ship remember?"

I ran out of the cockpit and opened the airlock to find Vizago standing there.

"Reconsidering your deal?" I asked.

"No... I want to go back with you. Truth is, I've been running from the Empire for a long time now. I can leave my ship here to throw them off my trail." He handed me the 200 credits I paid him.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"There's no point in paying me if I'm working with you. I said anything to bring the rebellion back, right?"

 _That was easy..._

"Alright then, welcome aboard."

"Let me get the rest of the supplies! You were my first deal in months and I have a lot of stuff that could be of good use. Don't worry, I checked for trackers after I got them aboard, they're clean."

"Alright," I said as I tapped my comm. "Spectre 5 this is Spectre 6. We're loading all the supplies we can from Vizago's ship onto ours. I'll let you know when we're clear to leave."

"Acknowledged Spectre 6. Spectre 5, out."

20 minutes later, Vizago and I loaded the last crate onto the _Starbird_. The cargo hold was full and the crates were taking up so much space we were practically walking on them.

We closed the airlock and I told Sabine to get us into hyperspace. Seconds later the ship lurched as the hyperdrive launched us into hyperspace.

"Vizago, you remember Sabine, right?" I said once we reached the cockpit.

"Of course! How could I forget," he said.

"I guess I would be lying if I said I wouldn't be happy to see you're alright, Vizago," Sabine said. "Why did you decide to come back with us?"

"I can't stand this Empire. I long for the old days. I figured it's time to help rebuild."

"Well we're definitely a whole lot smaller now," I said.

"I figured as much."

...

We came out of hyperspace right in front of the Republic station and Vizago gasped.

"I thought you said you were smaller!" he exclaimed.

"We are. Just found this here yesterday. You wouldn't believe what we found inside," I said.

Sabine activated a comm channel, "Hera? We picked up more than our power cells."

"What do you mean, Spectre 5?"

"We picked up a whole bunch of crates from our contact. Vizago, care to say hello?" Sabine said.

"Captain Syndulla! You're still alive after all!"

"Vizago? What are you doing back here with us? I thought you said you were never coming back!" Hera exclaimed through the comms.

"I changed my mind after seeing Ezra on my ship."

"Well we're glad you're back, believe it or not."

"I'm semi-glad to be back."

We landed the _Starbird_ in Bay 4 again and the first thing Visago saw was the Venator-class destroyer.

"Is that what I think it is?" he asked when we walked out of the ship.

"Yup," I said.

"Resolute. The pride of the Republic Navy. Or at least this one is the newest one after the first one was destroyed," Sabine said. "Fresh out of construction apparently when the war ended."

"Incredible! Are there more of these?" Vizago asked.

"No just this one, but there are a ton of walkers, gunships, and Y-wings. More than we can use really..." I said as I handed the power cells to the engineers. They ran off to the repair droids and they replaced their power cells. Pretty soon there were droids flying all around the hangar, repairing the walkers and dropships, even going out to the other hangar bays to repair anything over there. I mentioned the other supplies and the rest of our guys got jumpy and immediately got working.

...

"If we're going to modify the Resolute, we're going to need a ton of military grade equipment," Hera said. "The supplies and equipment from all the crates you gave us won't be enough for that."

"I know just the place!" Vizago said as he began typing about the holotable.

Some station popped up on the holotable then.

 _What is that?_

"This is an Imperial station full of goods just waiting to be taken. Last I heard, they are going to get rid of that bunch of goods and send it to some shipyard," Vizago said.

"Describe these 'goods'," Hera said.

"Everything you need to modify that Jedi cruiser of yours," Vizago said. "Modern shielding, weaponry, engines, hyperdrive..."

"The engines and hyperdrive should work fine for now," Sabine tacked in.

"As I was saying," Vizago continued, "There's all sorts of freshly constructed systems."

"When do these things get shipped to the shipyards?" Hera asked.

"Hm, let's see," Vizago said before he started mumbling about 4 days ago then the timing. "I'd say about 4 rotations."

"This station is orbiting a planet?" Sabine asked.

"Why of course it is! How else would they get the supplies to build the parts! I suggest waiting for the transport to pick up the supplies, then take it over. Since Yavin, transport security has been relatively light, believe me I would know."

"Alright. So we have the coordinates and the timing. Sabine, will you lead this op?"

"Of course!" Sabine replied excitedly.

"Good. I'll put together a group of anybody willing to join you. Ezra, don't say anything, I need you here," Hera said.

"What?" I asked.

"I need you to help me assign a bridge crew for the time being. We have the docking clamps working again so it can leave the hangar now," Hera said.

"Lucky," Sabine sighed.

"Wait what?" I asked again. "How am I the lucky one here?"

"Are you kidding? You get to play around with the Resolute while I'm stuck with a transport!" Sabine exclaimed.

"Let's get going," Hera said shaking her head.

...

As Sabine left for her mission, I was stuck in the bridge of the _Resolute_ doing a systems check. It's amazing how everything was still working.

"Hey Wedge how's everything over there at the fighter control?" I asked him through the comms. This twin bridge would annoy me to death. In fact it already is.

"Everything is back up and running," Wedge said. "The hangars are completely empty. When Sabine said this was fresh out of construction she wasn't kidding."

"Remember when we needed a carrier so we stole that Imperial one that was over Ryloth?" I asked.

"Yeah those were better times for us," Wedge said.

"Well I think we found a better one. Sabine told me these things were mostly of a carrier use than battleship," I said.

"So I've heard. The Empire doesn't do anything like that with their star destroyers," Wedge said.

We finished our ship-wide systems check and reported everything green. I looked out the window towards the dorsal hull, wondering who would take command of this legendary warship.


	3. Test Fire and Reconstruction

**Chapter 3**

* * *

"Ezra you need to calm down!" Hera said as I paced around the command bridge of the Venator bridge.

"I'm perfectly calm, Hera," I replied, not slowing my pace.

"Obviously you're not. You pace when your nervous," she replied.

"It's been two days since Sabine left for that run. What if she..." I couldn't finish the sentence.

"You should know Sabine better than that! She wouldn't let the Empire kill her!"

"I know... but what if she didn't get the supplies?" I asked. I knew I should trust her better, but things have gotten out of hand since Yavin. Anything could happen now.

"Ezra..."

"I'm sorry," I interrupted. "I know better than to doubt Sabine."

"She'll get our transport."

Hera placed her hand on my shoulder as she said that. I smiled and looked out towards the stars.

 _"Tower to Resolute, you are clear for live systems test!"_

"Acknowledged, tower," Hera said. She ordered the ship to be moved into space.

The engines started up perfectly and the unused Venator-class Star Destroyer slowly drifted out of the hangar. Just standing in this thing was amazing enough, but the fact that, so far, it's still in near perfect condition was even more surprising.

"Ezra, would you like to fire the guns once we are clear of the station?" Hera asked.

"I figured Sabine would want to do that," I admitted.

"I suppose she would," Hera agreed. "Wedge, open the dorsal hangar."

I watched as the dorsal hangar bay doors slid apart from each other and all the fighters we had repaired flew out of the hangar.

"When did we put those fighters in the hangars?" I asked.

"Just yesterday. The port and starboard hangar bays work, though the doors were a bit stuck," Hera answered. "Those repair droids really do their jobs well."

Everybody finally has something to do and we've gotten a lot of things done these past couple days.

"General, we are far enough from the station to proceed with the weapons test," an officer reported.

"We'll hold off on the weapons until Sabine returns," Hera said.

"General, we're picking up a ship coming out of hyperspace!"

We all looked ahead of us as a burning _Starbird_ appeared in front of us. My heart dropped to my stomach as the damaged Kom'rk fighter rapidly flew towards us.

"Keep dorsal hanger doors open!" I shouted through the comms. "Do we have mechanics on board?"

"Of course we do," an officer said.

"Get them ready to receive!"

Whoever was piloting my _Starbird_ , was talking over the comms, requesting emergency landing, which we provided. But since we've never heard this voice before, Hera ordered a security team to recover and secure the pilot.

"Ezra you lead them there. It's your ship he's got," Hera said.

I nodded and stepped into the turbolift.

...

We surrounded the burning wreck of my ship and engineers and medics alike pulled the pilot out of the wreckage, along with much of the original strike team. The pilot was awake and I stormed up to him, grabbing the collar of his shirt and pulling him up close.

"Where is she?" I asked furiously.

"W-Who?"

"WHERE IS SHE?" I repeated.

The man seemed to be dazed and I understood why, but I didn't want to wait for an answer.

"You mean... the Mandalorian girl?"

"Yes her! Where is she? What happened?"

"She... told me to fly the ship. I don't even know where I am, I'm not a pilot!"

"Then why were you flying his ship?" Rex asked.

"She told me to!" the man replied.

"Take him to medical," Rex ordered. "Make sure he's alright. In fact, get all these men to medical."

I watched as the security team dragged the injured rebels and the unknown man out of the hangar, then engineers rushed up to my ship and began putting out flames and checking to see if it was repairable.

"We'll see what we can do, sir; but we can't guarantee it can be saved," the chief engineer said.

I nodded and I noticed a rebel rifleman approaching me.

"Can I help you?" I asked.

"I was asking our guys what had happened and if they know anything about Commander Wren's whereabouts. They said they last saw her jump the freighter to hyperspace, but they seem just as confused as we are. The Empire showed up and began shooting up your ship, with everyone on board. At least, that's what they said."

I nodded. "We should get back to the bridge and report this to Hera."

We walked back up to the bridge and Hera looked at me.

"How is everyone and... where's Sabine?"

I didn't say anything. Instead I just walked past her and to the very front of the bridge. I could hear the rifleman explain everything he was told to her.

Suddenly, our nav officer reported another ship exiting hyperspace. Right as he said it, an Imperial freighter appeared. I stood up straight and stared in shock as Sabine's voice cut into the tense room.

"Sorry I'm late. I had to pretend to thank the Empire for their assistance. I can explain everything. Permission to dock and come aboard?"

The entire room cheered and Hera began fleet wide transmissions to unload supplies and everything from the freighter and into the Hangars of the station. From there, I watched as a shuttle flew out of the space station and landed in the dorsal hangar bays. I was back down in those hangars before the doors could close.

I saw Sabine walking down the boarding ramp of her shuttle and I practically tackled her in a hug.

"Woah... Ezra, what's... it's good to see you again..." she stammered, surprised by the action.

"S-Sorry. I thought the worst happened to you," I said.

Sabine pulled away and stared up at me with a grin, "You should know me better than that, Ezra Bridger."

I returned the smile, "Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"We're going to the bridge," I said.

"I see you guys got this ship moving," Sabine said.

"Yup. Engines, shields, everything works. We've tested all of it," I said, pausing a moment. I could sense a bit of disappointment of missing out. She thought we also tested the weapons, which we didn't yet.

"Except for the weapons. We've reserved that for you," I added. Immediately, her mood improved.

"Really?"

"I was going to test them, but I figured you should do it. You did take part in finding the ship," I said.

"Race you to the bridge," she challenged. She took off running before I could either accept or decline the challenge, but she knew me well enough to know I was going to accept it.

We made it to the bridge and Hera congratulated Sabine for their successful mission. The first in a long time.

"Sabine, if you would do the honors..." Hera said then.

I looked at Sabine and she looked excited. "Do we have a specific target?"

"How about an empty cargo container," I suggested.

"That will work," Hera said. "I pass command of this vessel to you for this test," she said to Sabine.

Minutes later, there was a large cargo container floating outside the front of the ship.

"Our weapons have a clear target, General," the weapon control officer reported.

Sabine blinked.

"I thought command was passed to Sabine," I said.

"It was, General," the officer said.

I was confused now. Sabine and I looked back at Hera and she was smiling and holding two boxes.

"Hera, what's going on?" Sabine asked.

"You both found this station and this ship. Then Sabine gave us our first op win in a long time. The crew of the CR90 have already been promoted, now it's your turn," she said.

Sabine and I looked at each other and back at Hera.

"Take these. You've earned them."

She clipped rank insignias to our jackets and I looked at it. It had five dots.

 _Five dots!_

I looked at Sabine, who had the same rank pinned to her jacket. Then I looked to a smiling Hera, who was also saluting both me and Sabine. The entire bridge crew were saluting us.

"We're dreaming, right?" I asked.

"Congratulations, Generals."

"Why...?" Sabine began to ask.

"We've been short on good leadership. It's about time we rebuild our central command," Hera said.

"Two Jedi Generals and a Mandalorian General. Never thought I'd see that again," Rex said.

"If you will do the honors, General," Hera said to Sabine.

I looked at Sabine and she limply saluted Hera, then turned around to find the cargo container.

"You said the box was targeted already?" Sabine asked.

"Yes, madam," the weapons controller said.

"Fire port turbolasers 1 through 4. One shot each," she ordered.

The ship shook gently as the portside cannons fired, the blue bolts hitting their target with a muffled bang.

"Use the tractor beam to keep it steady and direct it to the starboard side."

The box stopped floating away from us and instead began moving to our right. Sabine repeated the earlier firing order with the starboard primary batteries. All the cannons worked perfectly.

"Broadside guns, target the container and fire one shot only."

"Simultaneous fire or single?"

"Fire at will," Sabine said.

Rex laughed, "This is a fun part."

All the broadside guns on our starboard side fired at different times. It looked really cool.

"You've got that look again," Sabine said, trying to stifle a laugh.

"What look?" I asked.

"The same one when we first walked onto this bridge."

The cannons held their fire after their single shot and there was nothing left of the container.

"Wait aren't the broadside guns man operated?" I asked.

"We have some people down there, but only one man per gun," Hera said.

"Time for the port cannons. Get me another target," Sabine ordered.

"There's an asteroid nearby, but it's currently out of range of our guns it seems," a rebel nav said.

"Understood. Get us within range, port broadside."

The Venator maneuvered to the asteroid and the weapon controller reported the guns within range.

"Is everybody at their designated stations?" I asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Sabine?"

She smiled, "You do this one. Like you said, we both took part in finding this."

"I said you..."

"Don't argue with me, Ezra. You should do this. Get a taste of commanding a battleship," Sabine said.

"Okay... Target the asteroid," I ordered.

"Asteroid targeted."

"One shot per cannon. Fire at will," I said.

Several shots were fired from the broadside cannons and the asteroid shattered into many little pieces. Many of those pieces were glowing from the laser rounds.

"Great shot!" Sabine exclaimed.

"You're right! This is fun!" I said.

"I never really said that..." Sabine said.

"You wanted to say it."

"I think this whole thing was a success. Let's dock back to the hangars," Hera said to the helmsman.

"Right away," the helmsman said.

...

I was just relaxing on the bench in a transport, checking out the holonet. The Empire was going off about a stolen Imperial freighter full of supplies. They had no idea where it went. Apparently within a few hours after noticing it was missing, they searched several planets around the area it was last seen in. After they came up with nothing they expanded their search.

"Hate to break it to you guys, but you're nowhere close to it," I muttered with a grin.

Everybody was excited about this entire thing. Now that we had something new to fight for, we managed to get our hands on an Imperial freighter full from floor to ceiling with ship parts and supplies. After docking the _Resolute_ inside its hangar, the engineers and droids immediately began working with it. They began stripping the hull and armor and last I heard they were tearing down the bridge. The parts and resources would let us rebuild this outdated ship.

Unfortunately, there is no possible way to just modify the original structure. If we were to take it to a fight against even one Imperial star destroyer, it would be torn apart. It doesn't have the size or the firepower of the Imperials. That being said, we were all saddened that we decided to tear down this never used ship, but the hope we had was the fact we would now have enough resources to build the new design Sabine thought of.

 ***Flashback***

"What are we looking at?" I asked. "It looks the same as the ship now."

"You're not looking close enough," Sabine said.

She had her ship design floating above the holotable.

"When did you design this?" Hera asked.

"On the way to and from the freighter op," she replied smiling. "I had time so I decided to do something about it. I figured the Venator was too small to challenge even one Imperial II-class."

"You're right on that. But what you're suggesting would mean tearing apart this current one," I said.

"Sadly yes. But if we are to stand even the smallest chance against the Empire, this is our only choice," Sabine said. "I've taken the ideas for more cannons, even the beam cannon up front, and overall the general frame would be about equal to an Imperial II, excluding the aft extension."

"With that aft extension it would be bigger?" Hera asked.

"Yup, though that's usually a spot that has no armaments or importance personnel-wise. Just shafts with scanners, shields, several systems of that."

"I see the bridge is connected, too," Hera pointed out.

"The twin bridges are a target. This way it would be lower and not as obvious. It would have it's own shielding array in case the primary shields go offline, but that's only in the case the shields do fail."

"You've really thought this through," I said.

"I have. Took a couple days to figure it out, and with our current engineers and droids, I believe it would take a few months to tear down and rebuild the ship," Sabine said.

"That's the best we can do, eh?" Rex asked.

"For now, yes." Sabine said sadly.

"We need to find some more people, but to do that we need to win a fight publicly," Hera said.

"You're not saying what I think you're saying, right?" I asked.

"I am. We need to show the galaxy we are not beaten. Show them we can still win if we play our cards right."

...

"Great," I grumbled, throwing my arm over my eyes.

Vizago was able to give us information about a factory on Abansaz, a TIE factory that is. He said if we can hit it, and get Sabine to leave a mark, we can rally more people. However, the idea was ahead of our strength. We know we can't win that fight... not yet anyway.

Sabine then mentioned something about a famous Mandalorian engineer who hated the Empire and always wanted to fight; even after Yavin. We sent a contact and they managed to talk a bit. He said he wished to join, but wanted to know that we can still win. However, not long after out contact met up with him, he was reported arrested and is being held in a prison on Mandalore.

 _"We're going to Mandalore,_ _"_ Sabine had said. "The Mandalorians never liked the Empire in the first place. Now we just needed to show them they can still fight back."

"Ezra?" Sabine asked me, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"Hm?"

"We're coming up on Mandalore. You remember the plan, right?"

I grinned, "How could I forget." I stood up and picked up a cloak from a hanger and put it on. The ship lurched and Hera announced we had arrived.

...

"Ready?" Sabine asked me.

I nodded and walked into the middle of the public square. There were stormtroopers everywhere, which was exactly what we wanted. They have no idea what's about to go down. My lightsaber was hidden in my cloak, but my hands were exposed. However, Kanan taught me how to use the Force to pull the lightsaber into my hands from the cloak without moving a muscle on the way here.

There was a restricted area in front of me. Looked like a prison building.

 _Target spotted_.

I approached the stormtroopers and they stopped me.

"You there, halt!"

"Can I help you guys with something?" I asked.

"This is a restricted area. You're not supposed to be here," the officer said.

"Oh is it? I'm really sorry, I had no idea!" I said, making sure I added a hint of sarcasm. They seemed to pick it up.

"Are you stupid, street rat?"

By this time a decent crowd was watching.

"No, I'm not stupid," I said. "I heard you clearly and I just don't care!"

I heard murmurs behind me. People whispering if I wanted to go to prison and others saying I was asking for a death sentence.

"Cuff him! We're taking you in!" the officer said as stormtroopers surrounded me.

I smiled and used the Force to push them back a couple feet, all without moving. The crowd gasped and cried out as stormtroopers hit the walls in the small space we were in.

"What happened?"

"I don't know! What kind of trickery is this?" the officer asked me.

"I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean."

"Four of my guys just flew into a wall! What don't you understand, street rat?"

My smile faded, "Don't call me that."

"What? Street rat? What are you going to do about it?"

"It's not what I'm going to do about it, but what the Rebellion is going to do about it?" I said.

"What rebellion? The only rebel I see here is you!"

"Alright."

That seemed to piss off the Imperial even more. "Cuff him!"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," I said.

"Shut it, kid!" a stormtrooper said before getting shot.

"What was that?" another asked before also getting shot.

"We're under attack!"

I probed around with the Force and felt Zeb's presence on a rooftop, picking off one trooper at a time.

"YOU!" the officer yelled.

"Me?" I asked.

"You did this!"

"I was only talking, but alright, if you say so."

I jumped into the air and landed behind the breaking imperial line as a bunch of rebel and Mandalorian fighters attacked. Sabine landed next to me moments later.

"Thanks for distracting them," she said.

"No problem," I smiled. "I take it your clan answered your call?"

She nodded.

I had to distract the stormtroopers while Sabine snuck up behind them to a comms panel and programmed a signal to her clan. She knew they were on Mandalore since Krownest was attacked and likely nearly destroyed.

The stormtroopers, in their state of disarray, were easily and quickly taken out by the combined efforts of the rebel and Mandalorian forces.

"As said in the briefing," Sabine began, "He tried to publicly speak out against the Empire when no one else would, and was brought here."

"Yup," I said. She was trying to make sure I remembered why we chose this particular spot to make our presence known. "Let's get inside."

Sabine began hacking into the control panel as Rebel and Mandalorian forces gathered behind us, forming a protective perimeter.

"Sabine, can you go faster?" a Mandalorian said.

"I'm trying. They seem to be trying to block me out of the system," she said with frustration.

"If they know we're here already, then there should be no problem doing this," I said as I reignited my lightsaber.

"Not until we have to," Sabine warned.

"We don't have a lot of time!" I argued.

"Ezra..."

"Sabine, he's right! There's not enough time!" Zeb said.

Sabine reluctantly nodded and stepped aside, giving me room to cut down the door. There wasn't time to cut a decent hole so I began slashing until the door was glowing. It was then I used the Force to mold the near molten metal door into a ball and launched it down the corridor, knocking over a bunch of Stormtroopers in the process.

"Sabine, can you locate his cell block?" I asked when we found the command center. Surprisingly there wasn't many personnel, but there were a lot of auto defense turrets.

"Yeah give me a minute," she said, typing on the console. A squad of stormtroopers broke down the door and started shooting as us. Everybody, including me, tried our best to defend Sabine.

"Alright, I found him!" she called out. I finished off the last two stormtroopers and looked to Sabine.

"Lead the way," I said, then pointed to a few rebels and Mandas, "You four come with us. The rest of you cover this area. Don't let anything pass."

I ran after Sabine with the two Rebels and two Mandas then and found Sabine standing in front of a cell door. We all charged our weapons and I nodded to Sabine and she opened the door. She was the first one inside and I made sure there wasn't another entrance into the corridor.

Sabine walked out of the cell, supporting a middle aged man. Maybe late 30s early 40s at best guess.

"I got him, let's get out of here," Sabine said.

"Who are you people?" the man asked. A bunch of stormtroopers appeared from the other end of the corridor and ran at us.

"We'll answer that as soon as we get out of here!" I said.

The man understood and the group ran back to the main room. Blaster fire was heard from behind us and a bolt narrowly missed my head, hitting the wall next to me instead.

"You guys get out of here! I'll hold them off!" I shouted as I ignited my lightsaber, the emerald blade lighting up the relatively dark corridor. I deflected several bolts back at the Imperials and took out half of them. I remembered my DL-44 blaster pistol, but that's been missing for a while. I think it's somewhere back at Polis Massa, but I could be wrong.

"Ezra!" I heard Sabine shouting from behind me. I began backing down the hallway and heard Sabine firing her pistols to help cover me.

I slipped around the corner and the door shut, the locks engaging to keep the Imperials at bay.

...

It wasn't too hard getting out of that prison, except for the fact we were surrounded and the only reason we got away was because I cut a hole in the ceiling. Before that I confused the front stormtroopers, the ones behind them were fine, but with their comrades in the way, they couldn't get a clear shot. I called for a report and somebody handed me a datapad.

 _Four killed; Two Mandas and two Rebels_

 _6 wounded; two Mandas and four Rebels_

"Great so we did have casualties," I mumbled.

"They knew what they were getting into," Sabine assured me.

The Mandalorians returned to their own base to report their success and brought us with them. I assumed their leader would like to speak to us.


	4. Prisoner

**Chapter 4**

"Ok we're clear. Let's keep moving," a mandalorian whispered. The freedom fighters were leading me and Sabine to their camp, which was pretty close to the city.

"It's great to see you're all still alive," I said quietly.

"Likewise, Commander," Tristan said.

"Actually, Tristan," Sabine began, "We were recently promoted to Generals."

"You're kidding!"

I shook my head and lifted my cloak to reveal the General insignia clipped to my shirt. Tristan stared at me and I guessed his eyes were wide by the way he stared.

"Well then, glad to have been of service, General," Tristan said.

"I hate to interrupt and all, boys," Sabine began, "But we should stay quiet until we arrive at the camp."

Everyone was quiet the rest of the trip until we were inside their camp.

Several Mandalorians seemed surprised, but no less happy to see their allies return alive. Ursa herself stepped out of a tent and greeted everybody.

"Sabine, it's so good to see you're alright," she said with a smile.

"Likewise, mother. We were successful in rescuing our engineer," Sabine said, returning the smile after taking off her helmet.

The Countess looked to me and managed a smile. "Ezra Bridger. I've never been happier to see a Jedi."

I smiled back and bowed, "It's an honor to see you again, Countess. You look well."

"As well as one can during a time of war," Ursa agreed. "Please, come in. We have much to discuss."

We all entered the command tent, though all of our men had to remain outside since they were not high ranking officers.

"You're attack on the prison had brought back some old questions," the Countess began. "Questions like if the Empire can still be defeated."

"That's what we were hoping for," Sabine said.

"Ezra's presence as a Jedi seemed to bring back a spark of hope, but it still doesn't seem strong enough to form a new army," Ursa added.

"We've done it before," I said. "We can do it again."

Tristan grinned, "I like him more and more."

"Thanks," I said.

"Alright but I have a question," a mando said from the corner of the tent. "Why do you guys need our engineer?"

Sabine and I looked at each other and I smiled. "We're planning to rebuild the Alliance, but this one is brand new."

"Oh?" Ursa asked. "How so?"

Sabine plugged a chip into the portable holotable and gestured for the rescued man to step forward. "This is our new capital ship. We found something but for security we cannot reveal the coordinates. We want to bring him with us to help oversee construction for new ships, and we'll need resources to build more."

"Isn't that a Venator-class star destroyer?" Tristan asked.

"Not anymore it's not," I said. "We're rebuilding it to a more modern design. All Sabine's idea of course."

"You think very highly of my daughter, Bridger," Ursa said.

I blushed, "It's hard not to..."

"That's sweet of you and all, Ezra, but we need to focus," Sabine stated, though I noticed a light blush on her, too.

"So you want him to go with you to oversee construction?" Ursa asked.

"Exactly," Sabine said.

"We know this is very sudden, but this ship and what we found with it can change the tide of the war in our favor," I said. "We can rebuild our rebellion and possibly grow stronger than we first were!"

I could sense the excitement in everybody, including the Countess. She seemed to be considering the proposal.

"We'll be more than happy to contribute to your group as well," Zeb said.

"We'll have to see," Ursa said. She seemed reluctant. "We'll grant you this request if he agrees to go with you."

The rescued man grinned, "I would be more than happy to go with them."

"Then it's settled. We'll get your ship prepped immediately," Ursa said. Just then a Mandalorian ran into the tent.

"Countess, we're under attack!"

Suddenly, a bunch of explosions were heard soon followed by TIE fighter engines. Everybody ran out of the tent and the first thing I saw was a swarm of TIEs strafing the Mandalorian camp. I saw some troop transports and called them out.

"How did they find us?" Sabine asked.

"I don't know. Unless there's a spy..." Tristan murmured.

"We can't focus on that," Ursa said. "We must repell the attackers! Form ranks!"

Mandalorians lined up behind cover, some manning defense turrets and vehicles, as the Imperial troop transports touched down. Waves of Stormtroopers poured out of the transports and advanced on our position. I ignited my lightsaber and deflected several shots back to the Imperials and noticed Sabine flying through the air. She was leading a group to strafe the Stormtroopers with missiles and blasters. It was pretty effective until the Empire deployed their own Jet troopers.

"General!" a rebel shouted as my rebel unit ran up to me. "The right flank is being overrun!"

I looked towards Ursa.

"Go on, Bridger. I can hold them off here," she said. She shot several troopers as she said that.

I turned and ran to the right flank and sure enough, it was just being overrun. I watched as a rebel soldier was gunned down by four stormtroopers and I was instantly pissed off.

I shouted, "Hey!" at the four troopers and they all turnes to me. They tried blasting me, but I deflected the shots to the ground and ran my emerald blade through one of them and deflected a shot back to the other three. I could sense the moral rising as the remaining troops at the right flank formed a fire wall. Auto cannons and blaster rifles gunned down the faltering Imperial forces. Before I even realized it, the battle was over. The Imperials retreated into their transports and fled, leaving their dead and even wounded behind.

I returned to the command tent where Ursa, Sabine, and their people were interrogating a wounded Imperial.

He said something and a couple Mandalorians walked up to me with a scanner.

"What's going on?" I asked as they scanned me.

Whatever they were looking for... they seemed to find it. They threw me to the ground and pulled something from the bottom of my boot.

 _A tracker..._

"Ezra?" Sabine asked me.

"I swear I didn't know that was there!" I argued as they rid me of my lightsaber.

"He led them here!" a Mandalorian shouted.

Fear seemed to form on Sabine's face as a group of Mandalorians surrounded me. Ursa said nothing as they kicked me in the gut. Spots filled my vision and I tried to blink them away when a fist connected with my jaw. I tried to raise my arms to defend myself, but two Mandalorians grabbed my arms and held me up as a third continued to beat me up. By the time they were done, I was pretty sure I had a broken arm, leg, bruised gut and ribs. Everything hurt. Sabine shoved the Mandalorians away from me and shouted at them.

"He led them here, Sabine! Can't you see that?" one Mando shouted.

"I don't believe it was his fault! How was he supposed to know there was a tracker on the bottom of his boot?" she shot back.

She was defending me... against her own people.

"He's a Jedi, isn't he? He should be able to know!"

"That's not how the Force works!" Sabine shouted.

"How would you know?"

"I've been with him long enough to know!" Sabine turned to her mother then and I was being held up by a few rebels, though they were held at gunpoint. "Mother please."

"Sabine... I need to speak to you. Privately," Ursa said.

I watched as Sabine and her mother stepped into the command tent to speak.

"All hands... lower your weapons," I said quietly to my men. "Do not make a threatening move."

"But General..."

"Just do it!" I snapped. A Mandalorian pointed his blaster at me, but I could sense he wasn't planning on shooting; not without an order to do so.

A few minutes later, the Mandalorian pressed a finger to his comm on his helmet and nodded. "Bring him in," he said.

They carried me into the tent and I heard Sabine and Ursa talking.

"You really care for Bridger, Sabine," Ursa said.

"I do," I heard Sabine reply. Her voice sounded a bit strained.

"Then you'll have no problem with me keeping him here until he either proves his loyalty or until you retrieve him," Ursa said.

"Mother please..."

"That is final, Sabine! I'll allow you to take our engineer with you to wherever you guys are based, but I must keep a close eye on your... boyfriend here."

"Mother...!"

"Keep Bridger in the prison tent, but under no circumstances are you to harm him any more. Treat his injuries as well. What was done out there was not needed," the Countess ordered.

Sabine looked at me with an apologetic look. "Ezra... I'm so sorry. I can't help you anymore. Not right now at least."

I nodded, "It's fine, Sabine. I'll manage."

Sabine gave me a worried look and left the tent with the engineer. The rest of the rebels followed her as well, leaving me with Sabine's family.

"Get him cleaned up," Ursa ordered.

Two Mandalorians dragged me out of the command tent and straight to the prison tent. It wasn't anything like a cell, but they kept a close eye on me for the rest of the day.

...

 **Sabine's POV**

I couldn't believe my mother would keep Ezra prisoner over a clear misunderstanding. But what also worried me, was how I was supposed to explain this to Hera.

"General, we are coming up on our station," my co pilot said.

I nodded and brought the Starbird out of hyperspace. The old Republic station appeared before us and I got on the ship comms.

"Hey Tenith, come to the bridge, will you?" I said.

Moments passed and the cockpit doors opened and the Mandalorian engineer walked in.

"Are we here?" he asked.

I nodded, "There she is." I gestured to a mostly destroyed Venator-class Star Destroyer. "She was working perfectly, but the current design was no match for an Imperial star destroyer. You'll be helping with reconstruction."

"Do we have all the supplies?" he asked me then.

"That will have to wait until your briefing... and my debriefing," I said sadly.

Tenith seemed to see my pain and he placed a hand on my shoulder, "You're worried about the Jedi, aren't you?"

I nodded, "His name is Ezra."

"Sorry.. you're worried about Ezra?"

"He's a Jedi who unintentionally led the Empire to my family's camp, of course I'm worried about him!"

"He'll be fine, Sabine," Zeb said. "He can make things right again with your clan."

"Thanks, Zeb," I said. "Let's get you to our command center."

I landed the _Starbird_ in hangar 4 with the Venator. So far the outer hull is gone and the only thing that remains of the bridge is a small stump on the dorsal hull. It's basically just a frame now. The chief rebel engineer ran up to me with a report.

"We've been working past our usual shifts with this thing. We should have it finished ahead of schedule," he said.

"You shouldn't be working yourselves so hard," I said.

"It's no trouble, General. We all talked about this and agreed," the engineer said before turning to Tenith. "Is he our guy?"

"He is, but first Hera needs to brief him on everything," I said, hurrying past the chief engineer.

"Yes, ma'am."

...

 **Ezra's POV**

"Alright, dinnertime," Tristan said as he handed me a tray of food. "This is all we can spare for now."

I took the tray and began eating. It's been hours since I have eaten anything. The Mandalorians are divided; some want to just kill me while others believe me.

"You know I believe you, right? I know you would never help the Empire," Tristan said.

"Yeah, I know," I replied, taking another bite of food. It's a bit bitter, but the cream that came with it helped with the flavor.

There was a moment of silence before Tristan continued speaking.

"Do you have anything for my sister?"

That caught me off guard and I about choked on my food, "E-Excuse me?"

"I mean, I see how you two look at each other. That worried look she gave you just before she left. Is there something going on?"

"No, there's nothing like that going on... we're just friends," I said, but accidentally letting some disappointment slip into my tone.

"You sound disappointed," he said.

I didn't say anything. I honestly didn't know what to say. I looked down at my food and avoided eye contact with Tristan.

"You don't want to be friends with her?"

"You could say that... I don't really want to talk about it."

"Have you two been fighting?"

"What? No... it's not like we're fighting, it's just..." I said quickly. "It's complicated..."

"I understand... well, sort of," Tristan said.

"Respectively, I don't think you do," I said. "It's just a stupid idea. It's not important."

"If you say so," Tristan said. "I'm going to get my own tray of food. I'll be right back."

Tristan left the tent to get his own food and I just set mine to the side and laid my head in my hands.

 _How long will I be here?_

...

 **Sabine's POV**

"He's what?" Hera asked.

"The Empire planted a tracker onto his boot, I'm guessing while we were leaving the prison. They attacked my mother's camp and half of my own clan wants him dead. My mother is only keeping an eye on him, but she never said for how long..." I explained, only taking a breath after I was finished.

"We should just follow your mother's terms, then," Hera said after a few moments.

"But Hera, I can't leave him behind like this!" I protested.

"We're not leaving him. You of all of us should understand that Ezra should serve his time, as sentenced."

"But this isn't fair! He didn't do anything wrong!"

"Sabine, please. We need you here to help supervise what's left of us. I can send Commander Antilles to negotiate at least a lessened sentence," Hera said.

"No! If anybody's going back there it's me!" I shouted.

"You're a General of the Rebellion..."

"What rebellion? Look around, Hera!" I said. "You call this a rebellion? We don't even have nearly enough people to run this station!"

"Sabine..."

"I'm going back for Ezra, and you can't stop me. Like you said yourself, I am a general!"

"This is not a solo decision! Yes you are a general, but it's a group decision!"

"So a vote? You sound too much like Mothma," I said bitterly.

Hera grimaced at my words and I immediately regretted them.

"Hera... I'm sorry..."

"Don't apologize. You're absolutely right, Sabine."

I grew speechless at that.

"If you wish to go, then I won't stop you."

I thanked Hera and quickly ran back to the hangars.

...

 **Ezra's POV**

Two days so far. That's the amount of time that has passed since I last saw anybody familiar besides Tristan. I've been all over the camp, though we had to move to a new location. Now we were near the mountains. I had no privacy at all unless I was showering or getting dressed. Other than that I had nothing to myself. My lightsaber and blaster were still in the Countess's possession but I don't blame her. I should have checked myself for trackers when we left the prison. After all, a stormtrooper did grab my leg to keep me from leaving.

The Mandalorian that was guarding me stepped into my tent and faced me directly, his helmet was off.

"Can I help you?" I asked him, slightly annoyed.

The guy just stayed silent. He was trying to size me up and I knew it. Normally I would have countered it, but I was in no position to do anything.

Suddenly I heard a voice that was all too familiar.

"Step back, Derrick!" Sabine growled.

"What are you doing here, Sabine?" he asked, turning to face her.

"I'm relieving you of guard duty, that's what!"

"Under whose authority?"

"My mother's," she said, not even wavering or blinking an eye. I probed her with the Force and could sense she wasn't kidding.

Derrick and Sabine continued their intense staring contest before Derrick stormed out of the tent. "Go ahead, stay with your boyfriend! I don't want to spend one more second with that traitor!"

That stung.

"He's not a traitor," she muttered. She then looked at me and smiled. "Hey..."

"Hey..." I replied stupidly. "W-What are you doing here?"

"I came to help out. I couldn't free you, but I lessened your sentence to just a few months. I've also been given permission to be one full time guard duty," she explained.

"Why? Don't we need you back at base?" I asked.

Sabine walked up, "I can't do everything alone now can I?"

"Well you have Hera, Wedge, Zeb, Kanan..." I began listing them off.

"I'd rather work with you over everybody else. Even if we get into fights, I can't trust anybody more than you," she said.

I thought I was dreaming. I was completely speechless.

"When was the last time you've eaten anything?" she asked then.

"Just this morning. Why?"

She took off a bag she had slung over her shoulders and pulled out some food. _Real food_.

"I've got some fruits, nuts, berries, even some pieces of dried meats from various planets and cultures... help yourself. And before you ask, I've already had my servings."

"Where'd you get this stuff?" I asked as I popped a piece of a meiloorun fruit into my mouth.

"I went shopping in the city today. I got here just last night and I figured you would want something real to eat," she said.

"Thanks a lot," I said.

I ate half of the food in her bag and she closed the flap. I was satisfied with everything and I laid back against a support post and sighed.

"You're very welcome," she said. "Here, you can hold on to this until everything is gone. I could always go back and buy more."

"So... what are you really doing here?" I asked. I knew there was more to it.

I noticed Sabine was biting her lip and she quietly answered, "I didn't want to leave you here."

"Sabine, you didn't have to come back for me."

"I don't care. I'm not leaving you," she said.

"You're willing to stay here for a few months, just because of me?"

"It wasn't your fault and even my mother can understand that, but she was already having trouble keeping everybody together and just letting you go wouldn't help," she explained.

"Thank you," I said, making Sabine smile again.

We talked for a few moments, Sabine telling me the Venator is stripped of the hull and the bridge is gone, me telling her everything we've had to do to keep the Empire off our trail, which was a lot and kind of complicated to explain.

"By the way... why does everybody keep saying I'm your boyfriend?" I asked then.

"I don't know, really," she replied. "I'm about to ask about it, too."

"I mean, we're not doing that kind of stuff. We never were and we never will," I said. The last part I regretted. I could sense the disappointment in Sabine. "I'm sorry I meant... with everything going on nowadays..."

"I understand," she said, giving me a sad smile.

"So uh... what now?" I asked.

"I think it's about time we get to sleep," she said. "I brought a bed roll so I'm going to be right over there," she added as she pointed to one corner of my tent.

"But uh... what about..." I began, not sure how I was going to ask.

"Just don't look and you'll live," she said. "I won't look either."

I blushed as she walked to her corner and set up her bed roll. I walked over to my cot and lied down on it, staring up at the top of the tent.

"Sabine?"

"Hm?" she hummed, not looking away from her work.

"How long exactly are we going to be here?" I asked.

"I don't know exactly, but a few months was all my mother said," she answered.

"Great..." I grumbled.

"I brought a sketchpad and some writing utensils with me. You can watch me draw stuff," she said.

"What about your paint?"

"I brought a few small cans and my applicator, but until I find a good place to paint I can't use them."

I nodded.

"Do you do anything to stay occupied?" she asked me then.

"Not really. All I do in my spare time is meditate," I replied. "It's pretty much the only time I have privacy, at least in my mind."

"If you need some privacy I can just step out," she offered.

"That's not necessary right now, but I'll keep that in mind," I said.

"Alright. Goodnight, Ezra," she said.

I smiled. Those words brought back some memories of before Yavin. Before the full rebellion as well. Back when it was just me and Hera, Kanan, Zeb, and Sabine in the Ghost.

"See you in the morning," I said.

"Sabine laughed quietly and I heard her climb into her bed roll.

Even though I was technically being held prisoner, I couldn't remember the last time I felt safe at night, despite the angry Mandalorians just outside in their own tents or on the perimeter.


	5. Betrayed

**Chapter 5**

 **Several Months Late** **r**

Nothing interesting really happened during the 5 months Sabine's clan held me as some sort of prisoner, except for the occasional news of several ops that we either won or lost. Fortunately we barely lost a single person in those failed ops.

All thanks to Rex, from what I've heard, we've begun switching the energy packs on a few of our weapons to fire blue bolts instead of red, and we've managed to get a couple suppliers to donate some badly needed ship parts, medical and engineering supplies, and sometimes even food, but for the time being, I'm stuck on Mandalore.

"Hey," Sabine said as she entered my tent. "You hungry?"

I smiled and shook my head, "You don't have to do this for me, you know."

"But I want to," she replied, pulling off her bag and giving me some fruits. She's been doing this for 5 months, but it's not every day when she gets this stuff.

Lately we've been sharing the fruits and meats, talking about general topics. We also managed to sneak in a holo pad to watch shows or movies on. We'd just sit against a beam together and snack on the fruit while watching whatever was on the HoloNet. Once or twice Sabine fell asleep during those nights and rested her head on my shoulder.

I was always too scared to move so I stayed still; not wanting to wake her up would likely mean keeping my head.

I thanked her for everything she's done for me.

"Of course. Besides, you would do the same for me, one way or another."

I noticed she seemed tired so I asked her if she wanted to stick around a little longer.

She bit her lip, "Actually, I promised Derrick I would talk to him somewhere. He said it was urgent."

My mood darkened for a moment, but I forced a smile and nodded. "Alright then. I suppose you shouldn't keep him waiting."

"Ezra..."

"Don't worry about me," I said. "Just do what you want to do."

She nodded and left the tent, though as soon as she left, a new Mandalorian took her place.

"Can I help you with anything?" I asked.

"Nah, I'm just checking on you. Sabine seemed to have left in a hurry," he said.

"She was looking for Derrick," I said. "Something about talking to him about something."

"You might want to check that out. Derrick's been acting... different lately."

I shook my head, "No, I won't do that. I'm sure everything will be fine."

"If you say so. Maybe you don't spy on them but just walk past them at some point. Get some fresh air. You've been in here for a long time after all."

He left and I continued to snack on the fruit pieces in the bag, considering the suggestion. I didn't like Derrick, but something tells me he wasn't like that until I arrived, at least not at that extent.

I took the suggestion and stepped out of the tent. Immediately I felt refreshed again and the view from the far side of the camp was amazing. I think we were somewhere in the mountains, but I didn't know for sure. I walked the perimeter a bit and saw the peaks of some mountains, confirming my thoughts. The view completely took my breath away.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and jumped. I didn't realize somebody was nearby.

"You like it out here so far?" Tristan asked.

I calmed down a bit and nodded, "Yeah. This place is amazing."

"It's one of our last safe zones. I honestly didn't like the last place too much," he said.

"Seemed too dry for me," I agreed.

"You worried for Sabine in any way?" Tristan asked me then.

"Not really. Should I be?"

"I saw her talking with Derrick over there. He seems pretty insistent about something."

"Really..."

"Yeah. I tried to check it out but he started getting in my face and all. I'm telling you he's definitely changed during these 5 months."

"Alright," I sighed, "I guess I can just pass by. Maybe pretend I'm going to the mess hall or something."

"There's a shooting range just on the other side of the camp. You can head there and freshen up a bit," Tristan said.

"Thanks. I'm going to need it," I said cheerily.

"Follow me. I'll take you there," he said.

I nodded at him and we both set off to the shooting range; but our main focus was keeping an eye on Derrick.

We saw him still talking to Sabine, though she didn't seem interested in talking with him anymore. I risked using the Force to probe Sabine and she really seemed annoyed with Derrick, and also a bit uncomfortable. Whatever he was after her about she really didn't seem to like it. She didn't spot me either as Tristan and I passed through a barricade and there was a rack of weapons hung up on the rock wall. The range was literally carved into the mountain side. The targets were metal plates on an old Mandalorian armor stand.

"Well this looks pretty nice," I said.

"It's not the best, but it's what we have," Tristan said.

"Hey, this is better than what we had," I countered.

"What could be worse than this?" he asked.

He was challenging me.

"A broken table with pretty much broken blasters lying everywhere. Our targets were just spots on the walls," I said.

Tristan sighed in defeat, "Alright that does sound worse."

"Worse doesn't cut it," I said.

"What?"

"Nevermind," I said. I picked up a blaster pistol and looked down the sights at a target.

"Does it feel right to you?" I asked as I handed the blaster to Tristan. He looked down the sights and shook his head.

"This one's been used a lot. It's off balance. Energy packs running on fumes basically," he said. He walked over to the rack and grabbed another pistol of the same brand while tossing the other one over his shoulder. "Try this one."

He handed me the blaster and I looked down the sights. This one felt even so I gave him a nod.

"Go ahead. Take a shot," he said.

I carefully aimed at the center target and fired a shot.

 _Missed_

"Close," Tristan said.

"Not even," I replied.

I took another shot.

 _Missed again._

"You're getting closer," Tristan said.

I took a breath and focused, then fired a third shot. Third time's a charm, right?

 _Direct hit!_

"Bingo!" Tristan shouted.

"Come on that wasn't very good!" I protested.

"You're rusty, I'll say that. But you still got it!"

We fired a few more rounds into the targets and called it a day. I managed to get a feel for a blaster again and I was hitting spot on.

As we made our way around the camp, I found Sabine still "talking" to Derrick. I couldn't help but sense she was tense and very uncomfortable, especially with Derrick being a little too close to her.

"Hey, Tristan," I began, "I'll catch up with you later."

I guess he understood what I was doing because he nodded and walked off.

I approached Derrick.

"What's going on?" I asked, trying to act calm.

"None of your business, Bridger," Derrick snapped.

"I'm guessing I should leave then?" I asked.

"Yes!"

"No!" Sabine said suddenly. She managed to get away from Derrick and she stood close to me.

"Come on, Ezra," she said as she pulled me after her.

"W-Where are we going?" I asked.

"I have some explaining to do," she replied.

"No you don't!" Derrick said grabbing her wrist. "I'm not done with you, yet."

"Yes you are," she said.

"No... I'm not."

I separated Derrick from Sabine.

"If she says she's done, then she's done," I said.

"Who do you think you are?" Derrick snarled.

I kept my cool.

"Just a guy looking out for a friend. I didn't like seeing how close you were and especially could see she was uncomfortable with it."

"She wasn't uncomfortable until you showed up!" Derrick protested.

"Ezra, please. Let's just go," Sabine said.

"See? She wants you to leave!" Derrick said.

"No I mean me and Ezra," Sabine corrected. She grabbed my arm again and continued dragging me across the camp, leaving Derrick to kick around the dust.

"So what was that about?" I asked nervously. "I mean, if you want to talk about it you can, but if not that's cool, too."

"No I owe you an explanation," she said.

We were back in my tent and I was sitting up on my cot and Sabine was leaning against a box next to it.

"Derrick's been after me for a while and he won't stop."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"It's complicated, but he feels something for me that I feel for somebody else," she replied.

"Really..."

She nodded, but even though she was trying to hide it, I could see she was biting her lip a little.

"May I ask who this somebody is?" I asked, trying not to sound hopeful.

"I… I can't right now..."

"That's alright. It's none of my business anyway," I said, rubbing the back of my head nervously.

"It is your business, actually... I'm just not ready to tell anybody yet."

That lost me.

"I don't understand."

"Like I said," she said then, "It's complicated."

I nodded.

"Anyways... thank you for helping me back there," she said with a smile.

I returned the smile, "You know I've got your back with anything, right?"

Her smile brightened a bit, "Yeah."

"What can we do now?" I asked.

"I don't even know. It's so boring here!"

"At least you can leave the camp," I stated. "I can barely leave my tent!"

Sabine laughed, "Yeah well I bring you good food."

I thought about everybody back at our station and the abandoned cruiser we found.

"How close do you think our ship is to being finished?" I asked then.

"Hard to say. There was a lot we had to do so I don't know. It's most likely still under construction."

I shrugged, "I'd just like to go back. Who knows what other fun stuff they've been doing."

"Oh I don't know. I bet Zeb was sleeping most of the time," Sabine joked.

"It's entirely possible," I said.

Later that night, I was just laying awake in my cot. Sabine was in a second cot next to mine. She seemed a bit protective now since my encounter with Derrick earlier. Her being this close helped her relax a little; I guess it's because she knows I'm still here.

I couldn't help but stare at her either. I've never seen her sleeping before until we came here. She seemed to be at peace for the moment.

Her dark hair covered her eyes, but I couldn't stop staring.

"What?" Sabine muttered sleepily.

I about jumped through the ceiling, but instead of through the ceiling, I hit the floor pretty hard.

Sabine laughed, but helped me up.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you. Are you ok?"

"Yeah. I thought you were asleep," I said.

"I was, but then I noticed you were watching me," she said with a smirk.

"I-I wasn't... I mean I was but I didn't mean to..."

Sabine giggled, "You just need to relax. We are almost home free, do you know that?"

I grinned, "I can't wait to fight the Empire again."

"Fortunately for you, it won't be much longer until you do... If you survive this," a familiar voice growled.

Before anybody could react, I was hit with an electric shock. I collapsed to the floor and Sabine shouted my name.

"If you're smart, you'll stay down," Derrick said.

The tent was filled with light and I saw Derrick standing over me with an electrostaff in his hands.

"Derrick, what are you doing?" Sabine asked.

"I'm here to make you a deal. Accept my proposal or this Jetii dies!"

"No..." I groaned, but Derrick kicked me in the stomach and jabbed my ribs with the staff. I began seeing black spots and the tent was filled with my screams.

"Derrick are you trying to wake up the whole camp?" Sabine asked him.

"I covered this tent in a material that absorbs all sounds and vibrations. We're completely sound proof."

"Derrick, listen to me. You don't want to do this..." Sabine began. I glanced at her and noticed she was eyeing something behind Derrick so I followed her gaze. My eyes rested on her blasters, which were sitting on a table behind Derrick.

Sabine took a step forward and he tensed.

"No sudden movements, or he's gone!" he warned. I probed him best I could and knew he wasn't bluffing.

I glanced at Sabine and we locked eyes. She seemed to see it in my eyes that he was dead serious. Her face was filled with even more worry.

"Derrick, please... don't do this."

"Accept my proposal, then we'll talk," he snarled.

"I don't feel the same for you... I've got my eyes on somebody else," she said.

Derrick did not like that answer. He jabbed me with the staff again and held it there until I thought I was dead.

The voices faded for a few moments, but my vision and my hearing returned.

"Derrick, I'm begging you... just stop this!" Sabine shouted. Her voice was breaking.

"So you want _him_ instead?" he asked, his voice low.

Sabine didn't even nod or make a sound. She just looked down at her feet.

"I'm sorry, Derrick. But you're not who I'm looking for..."

Derrick tensed and pressed the staff against me again.

"I know that but I don't care. I guess you just want your friend to die!"

"S-Sabine!" I managed to say. I focused on the Force and threw her blasters to her and she held them up to Derrick's head. He lifted the staff and tried to strike her.

She pulled the trigger...

And I blacked out.

…

 _"Ezra!"_

 _"Come on, man! You got to wake up!"_

 _"We're in big trouble, we need you here NOW!"_

 _"Ezra, wake up!"_

I shot up and gasped for breath. I looked around and found Sabine, Tristan, and a couple other Mandalorians standing around me. I heard blaster fire as well in the distance.

"Ezra!" Sabine exclaimed as she tackled me in a hug.

"Ouch... Sabine, what's going on?" I asked.

"The Empire found us again and we know who tipped them off," Tristan said bitterly.

"We'll explain once we get out of here. My clan will follow us back to base," Sabine said hurriedly. "Can you stand?"

I tried to get up, but that electrostaff really took its toll on me. I could barely move.

"Nope..."

"Haar'chak…" Sabine muttered. "We need to get him to the _Starbird_ , now!"

"What about our camp?" Tristan asked.

"Forget the camp. If the Empire knows where we are there's no point in staying here!" she replied.

Sabine helped me to my feet and I began to get some feeling in my legs again.

"Wait a moment..." I groaned. I removed my arm from Sabine's shoulders, but she kept her hand on my chest.

"You can walk?"

"I think so... I'm getting feeling back in my legs," I replied.

"We should hurry," she said.

I nodded and Tristan handed me something.

"Here. You're going to need this," he said.

"My lightsaber..."

"We kept it locked up in a safe. Since we're leaving I think you should have it back."

"How long was I out anyway?"

"An hour, but now's not the time!" Sabine said.

We ran across the burning safe zone and stumbled across a few stormtroopers as well along the way. Tristan made quick work of them while Sabine helped me onto the _Starbird_ and began starting ignitions.

"Sabine, everybody reports they're in their ships. They're ready to go when you are!" Tristan said.

"Then let's get moving. Is everyone in our group on board?" she asked.

"We're all in!" Tristan said.

"Hang on everybody, this is going to be a very rough takeoff!" Sabine called out as she slammed the throttle forward and the engines launched us into the air. Before we even knew it, we were in space, but there was a new problem.

"There's an Imperial II-class Star Destroyer ahead of us! They've cut off our escape!"

"All ships form up on me. Any fighters that has ion bombs or torpedoes fire on the star destroyer," Sabine said.

Ursa's voice was heard through the comms then, "No Sabine. Just try to evade!"

"What? Mother are you serious?"

"I contacted your friends just after the Empire arrived. They said they're sending something to assist us."

I blinked, "They can't be..."

"Ezra?" Sabine asked.

"Sabine what could our people be sending to assist us? What's the only thing we have that can assist us like this?"

Sabine's eyes widened and she looked out into space. The nav computer beeped rapidly.

"Sabine, there's another ship coming out of hyperspace right next to that Star Destroyer!" Tristan exclaimed.

Seconds later, a brand new ship appeared and began firing full broadside guns on the unsuspecting Imperials.

"Haar'chak what is that?" somebody shouted through the comms.

"Attention all Mandalorian craft, this is General Hera Syndulla. Dock to these coordinates, we'll keep you covered."

"Hera!" Sabine exclaimed.

"By the Force it's so good to hear you!" I said.

"Ezra, is that you?"

I laughed, "Yes it's me. We were about to come home when all this started."

"It's good to hear you're doing alright."

"You, too," I said.

Everybody piloted their ships to the dorsal hull of the ship and a small hangar door opened up to let us land.

"Still keeping the carrier side of it I see," Ursa said through the comms.

"To an extent. The hangars have been halved from the original design to make room for the main cannon up front," Hera replied. "I'll see you all up on the bridge."

…

"What class ship is this? I've never seen anything like it!" Tristan exclaimed.

The battle ended when the Imperial ship burned in the Mandalorian atmosphere, several chunks of it's hull were missing when it fell.

"We don't have a class name for it," Hera said. "Not yet anyway."

I looked over to Sabine and she seemed to read my mind. We've lost so many friends and family to the Empire, even at our defeat at Yavin. It's time that we avenged those who have fallen for a nearly lost cause.

"Tenith, will you bring up the finished product of our new toy here?" Sabine asked the Mando engineer we rescued.

He brought up the finished schematics of the ship.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Sabine began. "Let me introduce you to the Rebellion's _Avenger_ -class Star Destroyer."

" _Avenger_ -class?" Tristan asked.

"It makes sense. We lost too many friends and family to the Empire. It's about time we avenge our fallen," I said.

"Well said, Bridger," Ursa said.

" _Avenger_ -class star destroyer..." Hera murmured, pondering the name. A smile slowly formed on her face, "It's a suitable class name. First real successful field test."

"Hera," Sabine said. "You should command this vessel."

"That's awfully kind of you to suggest," Hera said, "but it was you and Ezra who found not only this station, but also the ship. You led the first successful op, Sabine, and you both led the second successful together. That's exactly why I made you two generals. We must have an admiral, yes, but you two should decide who should command it."

Sabine and I locked eyes and smiled, "How about a shared command?"

"That's new," Rex said. "But I like it."

"Rex, you're more familiar with ships like this. You could..." Sabine began but he interrupted her.

"No, I'd rather fight on the ground. I was bred for that, after all," he said.

"Wait... if we're commanding this ship now," I began, "Would we ever fight on the ground?"

"That's the fun part of command," Rex said. "During the Clone Wars, the Jedi had their own cruisers and even outranked the Admirals and captains of our ships, but they also got to fight on land. The admirals are more of a second in command sort of deal, but only second to the Jedi. Perhaps even to the Mandalorians under Sabine's command."

"They are also part of Rebel Central Command, much like the Jedi and their old Council," Kanan added. "Which reminds me, Rex, you are the most experienced soldier among us. You should have a position in Command."

"No, I'm not any good for that. Like I said earlier, I'm bred for combat, not a command center."

"Come on, Rex. You're old, you need to take time off the front lines," Kanan jested.

Instead of getting upset by that, Rex seemed to be thinking it over.

"We never said you'd never see combat again. It's just like what you said to us," I added.

Rex smiled, "Alright I guess I can give it a shot. Perhaps take time to train any new recruits if we get any."

"Well consider my clan as new recruits, but we won't need any training," Ursa said.

"By the way, what happened to Derrick?" I asked.

Even though I didn't like the guy, my Jedi training got the best of me. Everybody had grim expressions on their faces and Sabine tapped my shoulder.

"I'll explain everything later," she said.

"It's for the best," Tristan said.

"As for now, we prepare to rebuild; officially," Hera said.

It was finally time to rebuild our Rebellion.


	6. Defectors

**Chapter 6**

Two months after first strike with the _Avenger_ -class, Rebel Command received a transmission from a Rebel convoy that they were under attack by two _Arquitens_ -class cruisers in wild space and were requesting immediate reinforcements. This convoy was carrying parts for a new kind of ship Tenith designed during my months with the Mandalorians. He calls it the _Intrepid_ -class assault ship. Why everybody wants to build a fleet so soon, I don't know, but this convoy could very much spark some rumors at least. All we need to do is get the convoy somewhere more public.

"All transports, are you in position?" I asked through the comms.

 _"Yes General! The planet's surface is right below-"_

The transmission fizzled, likely due to jammers.

"Nav, what's our ETA?" Sabine asked.

"2 mikes," a nav officer reported.

"Let's hope our boys can hold on for two more minutes," Sabine said then.

I nodded and turned to the weapons officer. "Charge our primary batteries. When we get to one mike out, raise our shields."

"Yes sir!"

"Weapon's charging, shields are on standby," one guy reported to his commanding officer. That officer turned to me and nodded.

"So what's your plan, general?" Sabine asked me with a smirk.

"We should have our guns target the cruisers and launch our fighters to handle the TIEs. All basic stuff really," I replied.

"And if this goes wrong?"

"The transports will be top priority. We'll have to cover them while they escape, and that means being a physical shield for them if it comes to that. After the transports jump out, then we'll leave."

"If we are able to," Sabine added.

"Unless they bring in a star destroyer then we should be fine," I said.

"One mike out, raising shields. All hands to battle stations!" the tactical officer calmly spoke through the ship's intercoms.

"General, we are approaching the Garel system. Coded messages indicate our transports have run out of fighters and are being strafed by TIEs. They've already lost one ship and another is damaged," the nav officer reported.

"All cannons are charged and ready, sir. Shields are online at full strength," the tac officer added.

"Exiting hyperspace in 3... 2... 1!"

The ship shuddered as we dropped out of hyperspace. Immediately I saw the wreckage of what used to be a transport and the other three transports are fleeing at full burn, the third one burning, but still active.

"Sabine, open a channel to the leading cruiser," I ordered.

I watched as she ran over to a console, tapped about a little bit, then nodding at me, signaling I was on.

"Attention Imperial vessels. This is General Ezra Bridger of the Rebel Alliance. Withdraw immediately or we will be forced to fire upon you," I said. I don't know where this was all coming from, but it sounded nice.

I noticed the TIE fighters stopped firing on the transports and the cruisers as well.

"You're rebellion ends here, Bridger," a man said through the comms, his Imperial accent very crisp and authoritive.

"Suit yourself," I said as the channel was cut off.

I saw the cruisers continue their bombardment on the transports.

"Launch fighters, get those TIEs off our transports," Sabine ordered.

"Helm, get us between those cruisers and the transports. Point defense take out anything that comes close. Primary batteries, order targets by range. Fire at will," I said.

The ship shuddered again as our cannons opened up on the Imperial command cruisers, effectively forcing them to break off their advance on the transports and go on the defensive.

I sensed Sabine's presence next to me and I turned to her to see she was staring at me.

"What?"

"Nothing. It's just... I've never really seen this side of you before," she admitted.

"I'm surprised myself, actually," I said then.

"Wedge, can you hear me?" Sabine said.

Wedge's voice was heard through the comms. He was flying his starfighter and was in the middle of a dogfight by the looks of it.

 _"Loud and clear, what do you need?"_

"I need you to take a few fighters and target the long range communication relays on those cruisers. We'll provide cover fire as best we can but we'll need to stop firing our point defense to avoid friendly fire, so you'll need to do this quickly," she said.

 _"Will do, general. Phoenix 3 and 4 on me, Hobbie you too. We're going after their comms!"_

The three other pilots responded and broke off the initial attack to knock out their targets.

"General Bridger, one of our transports is losing power. They're requesting extra assistance," a comm officer said.

"Get us over that transport. Use the tractor beams to haul it into our ventral hangar bay," I said.

"Ezra what are you thinking?" Sabine asked curiously.

"We can't afford to lose another transport. I'm getting it to dock," I said before turning to a bridge officer near me. "Get damage control teams ready. As soon as this thing docks we'll need to contain the fires."

The officer saluted and went off to rally the DC teams.

 _"Phoenix 2 to Resolute, their comms are offline,"_ Wedge reported through comms.

"Great work, Wedge. New task, cover the damaged transport while we get it to safety," Sabine said.

 _"Safety as in...?"_

"We're using a tractor beam to pull it into our ventral hangar. Do not let a single TIE get a shot off," Sabine explained quickly.

 _"Consider it done, general."_

"Sir the lead Imperial cruiser has held their fire, the second one holding as well," an officer said.

"Hold our fire. Fighters, go defensive for now. If they make a move towards our transports, cut them off," I said.

"Sir, the enemy ships have held their fire and are attempting to contact us," an officer reported.

"Open up a channel," I said. "Hold our own fire. Fighters if they make a move towards our transports, cut them off."

The comm officer nodded, indicating the channel was open.

 _"Attention rebel ship... we yield. I'm requesting permission to board your vessel to discuss terms,"_ the Imperial captain said.

"This sounds like a trap," Sabine whispered.

"Permission to board is denied. We can discuss terms now," I said.

 _"As you wish. I wish my crew be treated fairly as prisoners of war."_

"We can do that. And any resources you and your ships may currently possess should be transferred to our transports to make up for our lost ship," Sabine said.

 _"I'm sorry I thought I was speaking to the captain of this ship..."_

"Shared command, actually," I said.

 _"Shared... command?"_

"That's off topic," Sabine said.

 _"May I suggest... refuge?"_

"Refuge?" I asked.

 _"I wish to provide my services to your cause. My crew wishes to defect as well."_

"Still sounds like a trap to me," Sabine whispered.

"You and your crew will be transferred to our detention cells here," I said to the Imperial.

"General, the second Imperial cruiser has opened up on us!" a tac officer shouted.

The ship shook as the _Resolute_ took hit after hit, shields were holding.

"General what are your orders?"

"Wait, look!" Sabine pointed to the first cruiser maneuvering to block the shots, opening fire on the second.

"What is going on?" I asked, not realizing the channel was still open.

 _"I told you. We wish to defect."_

We all watched as the Imperial ships opened up on each other.

Sabine seemed to be the first to snap out of her surprise because she began barking orders at everybody.

"All batteries fire on the second cruiser. I need half of our fighters to provide support, the rest keep those transports covered!"

I noticed the first cruiser began moving towards us and then turn around again, their engines facing us.

"This is weird..." I said.

 _"Sir, you may not know this, but the_ _Arquitens-class cruiser used to be in service to the old Republic. I have the schematics for it,"_ the Imperial defector said.

"If I may ask now," I began, "If you wish to defect, why did you say our rebellion ends here?"

"He was probably trying to keep the image of a loyal Imperial when he secretly hated the Empire," Sabine answered for the defector.

 _"Exactly. How did you know?"_

"I used to be that way," Sabine answered.

 _"Ezra, the enemy vessel is retreating! Do we pursue?"_ Wedge asked.

"Negative, protect the transports," I said.

"Transports report ready to jump," the comm officer said.

"Captain, if you wish to come with us, for security reasons, we'll have to keep you all locked up. Dock with us," Sabine told the Imperial defector.

 _"I understand that. Thank you all."_

The _Arquitens_ \- class command cruiser docked on a docking port on the port side of the _Resolute_. I sent a security team to retrieve the defectors and send them to the detention block.

"Tell our transports to jump. We'll finish up here," I said.

I watched as the two remaining transports jumped to lightspeed. I heard Sabine order a recovery vessel to salvage whatever survived from the destroyed transport, and I also took into notice the destroyed _Arquitens_ falling towards the planet.

"Well if that Imperial star destroyer wasn't enough, this would send another message," I said to Sabine.

"An Imperial II-class star destroyer is always a big message. Remember that time over Mustafar?"

"How could I forget? I know what caused that," I replied.

"You never said what did it, either," Sabine said.

"Kanan disarmed the Grand Inquisitor and his lightsabers fell into the reactors."

"Wait, a lightsaber did all that?"

I could sense her disbelief and I laughed, "It's amazing what a lightsaber can do to a lot of things."

"Well if it's that easy, maybe just a thermal detonator can do something like that," Sabine realized.

"Maybe, maybe not. I've never tried a thermal detonator on a ship's reactor," I said.

"General, we're clear of hostilities for the moment. I suggest we get out of here before reinforcements arrive," the nav officer said.

"Are the defectors secured in the detention level?" Sabine asked.

"They are en route now."

"Good enough. Let's go," I said.

The nav officer nodded and set a course back to home station. Moments later, the ship shuddered and we jumped to lightspeed.

…

"What were you thinking bringing Imperials here?" Hera asked me, obviously furious.

"Hera, we made sure they were secured in the detention level, cuffed, and blindfolded during their transfer to the detention levels here," Sabine said in my defense.

"We shouldn't be taking chances like this," Hera said.

"They said they're defecting to our cause," I said. "They even attacked and destroyed their sister ship."

"The Empire is screwed up, but they wouldn't do that sort of thing," Sabine said.

Hera leaned forward on the holotable in the command center in thought.

"I understand your caution, Hera, but we need more ships and more people. These defectors could very well help with that," Sabine said.

" _Arquitens_ -class cruisers were used in the Republic's fleet, too," Rex said. "They wouldn't be out of place in our fleet."

"There's more, Hera," I began. I pulled a data chip out of my pocket and plugged it into the table. "He even gave us the schematics for these cruisers. We could produce more."

"We have CR90 cruisers, that's good enough," Hera said.

"There's always more than one kind of cruiser in a fleet. I wouldn't doubt that CR90s were also used during the final months of the Clone War," Rex said.

The command center doors opened and Ursa walked in.

"What did you find out, Countess?" Hera asked.

"Well he certainly means well. Jarrus couldn't sense any bit of deception in him either," she said, authenticating our claims. "In any of his crew for that matter."

"I suppose... but even if we produce these cruisers, how would we differentiate ours from the Empire besides paint job?" Hera asked.

"That's another thing he told us," Tristan began. "He explained that since the Death Star was constructed they've stopped producing these cruisers. If not stopped then severely limited their construction."

"That being said the Empire would have more resources to build more Star Destroyers. The Tarkin Doctrine," Sabine said.

"What's that?" I asked.

"It's hard to explain, but put plainly it deals with capital ships and superweapons," Sabine said. "It's designed to establish absolute control through fear."

"And so far they've done a great job of that," Tristan muttered.

"Perhaps too good. It will be difficult to recruit as long as that Death Star is out there," Rex said.

"Then we'll just have to destroy it," I said. "Question is how we'll do it."

"We're not ready for an offensive like that just yet," Hera agreed.

"What do we do? Build a death star of our own?" Wedge asked.

"No that's too much to deal with. We need to focus on rebuilding our ranks and our fleet," Hera said.

"What ever happened to Admiral Ackbar?" Hobbie asked.

"The Death Star at the Battle of the Kaliida nebula..." Hera said simply.

That battle was the second worst defeat next to Yavin. A quarter of our remaining forces were killed there.

"Oh..." Hobbie muttered.

"Weren't you there, Hobbie?" Wedge asked. "I could have sworn you were there."

"Nah my fighter was jacked up so I couldn't fight," Hobbie said.

"Can we change the subject?" Sabine asked.

"Yes, let's," Hera said, glaring at Hobbie and Wedge.

"We should recruit who is willing so far, which may not be very many," Rex said.

"We can't exactly advertise our recruitment and our location. We'll need to head out ourselves and figure this out. To prevent any immediate suspicion we should leave the _Resolute_ out of this unless it's needed," Sabine said.

"I agree," I said with a nod.

"So are we taking the _Starbird_?" Hera asked.

"We're going to have to. In any case we should load those LAATs into _Resolute_ 's hangers as well. Do we have any ground troops left?" I asked.

"We have a couple squads so far, but they'll need to finish some training," Rex said.

"Alright," Hera said. "Then there's weapons, we really need to get those."

Ursa spoke up then, "Our new friend actually gave us everything he knew. Several places look promising, and not only would they have good supply of weapons and supplies, but many of them are public."

"A perfect opportunity," Sabine said happily.

I could sense her excitement was skyrocketing. She would finally get her hands on explosives for the first time in a long time so it makes sense why she's so excited.

I chuckled a little bit and she stared at me, her happy expression still there.

"What's so funny?" she asked me.

"Nothing it's just... I couldn't help but sense your excitement," I replied.

"I can't help it," she said with a shrug.

"So now that we know what we're hitting, where are we hitting?" Hera asked.

"If I may..." a voice said.

"Woah who are you?" Rex asked.

"I'm that defector... remember?" the man said.

"What are you doing here and how did you get out?" Hera demanded.

"I assure you I'm no Imperial," the man said.

"Name, rank, and anything else we should know about you," a security officer said.

The man sighed, "If this helps you feel better. My name is Bastian, former captain of the Imperial cruiser your friend here brought back. The name of the ship is not important as I really didn't like it."

"Homeworld?" Sabine asked.

"Alderaan…" he replied sadly.

"You're a survivor?" Hera asked in disbelief.

"That's why you wished to defect..." Sabine muttered.

Bastian nodded, "Precisely. I was a loyal member of the Empire until they destroyed my home world."

"Are you familiar with Leia Organa? Or maybe Bail Organa?" I asked.

"I was a close friend of Bail and his daughter, yes," Bastian said. "I never knew they were rebels until just before Alderaan's destruction. Those few moments I thought about her in the worst ways until... well, you know."

"What about your crew?" Rex asked.

"Though most of them were not originally from Alderaan themselves, they share the feeling," Bastian said.

"Well Bastian," Hera began. "What do you have for us?"

"There's a weapon depot in very low orbit over Kuat. Last I heard there are also a bunch of star destroyers there still undergoing construction, but believably still a defense fleet. You can slip in undetected at a certain time. Scanners showed a solar flare approaching the planet so their scanners should be scrambled for just a few minutes."

"It's all on timing, eh?" Rex asked.

"Within those few minutes, you will have to slip past the drive yards and sneak aboard the station," Bastian said. "Since you'll be there when the flare hits, your scanners would be scrambled, too so you will need to rely on visuals to find this station. Fortunately, it's hard to miss."

"Let me guess, that's the easy part?" Sabine asked.

"Yes, it is. By the time you collect the weapons and cause as much chaos as you people usually do, their scanners would be back online. It's impossible to get everything and leave within the estimated time," Bastian confirmed.

"So would the _Resolute_ be needed during their escape?"

"It depends on how smooth everything goes," Bastian said. "If things go wrong, then you would need to bring _Resolute_ in... but I can't guarantee it will return from that battle either."

"It's a risk we'll have to take. We could use the support of the Kuat people, too," Hera said.

"Whatever happened to Mon Cala?" Bastian asked.

"You don't know?" Sabine asked.

"No I'm afraid I don't," he admitted.

"The Empire, obviously," I muttered.

"Death Star?"

"Single reactor ignition. We tried to help out but as soon as the Death Star showed up... we had to bail. The people of Mon Cala barely escaped themselves, but we were separated in the jump. The gravitational distortion from that battlestation threw them off course since they've never fought against it before," Hera explained.

"I've seen a single reactor ignition at Scarif…" Bastian said.

"I was there when it happened, too," Hera said.

"Your call, Hera," Sabine said. "Just give us the word and Ezra and I can get it done."

"A mission this risky... I can't allow you two to do this," she objected.

"Hera, we're the only ones that can do this," Sabine said.

As they were talking, I began thinking about something.

"I think I know what will make this a lot less risky," I said.

"What do you mean?" Sabine asked.

"Bastian, does the Empire know you defected?" I asked.

"Our only witnesses were killed. I made sure there were no escape pods out there," he said.

"We can do this if we play our cards right," I said.

"I think I get it," Sabine said. "You want us to use his cruiser, right?"

I nodded.

"That's an idea I'm more comfortable with," Hera said. "It's a go, you two."

"Let's go get our guns," Bastian said.


	7. Weapon's Depot

**Chapter 7**

 _"Arquitens cruiser, you are cleared for departure. Stay safe out there, everyone,"_ the officer stationed at the flight tower said through the comms.

All throughout the hangar, I saw rebel engineers and security lined up to see us off on our very risky mission.

"Just like old times, huh?"

I turned to Sabine. "What?"

"Risky missions, never really knowing what we're up against and what's going to happen," she said.

"Oh... yeah, just like old times," I repeated.

"You two close?" Bastian asked.

"Well I... we," I stammered. Sabine laughed.

"Yes, we're close, but not _that_ close," she answered.

"Yeah... wait, what?" I asked her.

Sabine only winked at me before speaking again. "I'll go check up on our ground troops."

"Now I know why she's so familiar," Bastian said then.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"She's the artist, right?"

I nodded, "The best in the galaxy."

"I admire her work, actually," Bastian said.

"Who wouldn't," I agreed.

"She seems like a keeper, Bridger. Don't screw things up with her," he joked.

I blushed a little, "I don't think that's going to happen."

"I must ask for your forgiveness, sir. I was out of place," he said suddenly.

"What?"

"You're a general, yes? I'm only -well, formerly- a captain."

"Oh, right. At ease," I said.

Bastian chuckled, "Sorry, this is all so strange to me."

"No harm done."

Sabine entered the room then.

"Everybody good to go?" I asked.

"Yup," she replied with a smile. A few Mandalorians from her clan agreed to join us in this mission, though we also had some of our own troops.

"We should be traveling at light speed momentarily," Bastian said.

Moments later, just as Bastian said, we were in hyperspace.

"Nav, what's our ETA?" Sabine asked.

"We should be in the Kuat system in 6 hours," the officer replied cheerily. I probed his mind and he only had ill thoughts towards the Empire. He was very happy with the desertion from them. There was no hint of betrayal. I could sense the same thing from every single person on the bridge, and they were the only Imperial defectors on the whole ship.

I motioned for Sabine to follow me and we both found an empty corridor.

"What's up?" she asked quietly. "Did you sense something off?"

I shook my head, "No. I probed everybody on the bridge, they all showed no hint of betrayal."

"Just like Kanan did when he was in their cells?" she asked.

"Pretty much, yeah. I'm beginning to think these guys are clear," I said.

"Good," she said. "These guys would be a big help to the rebellion."

"If we can get this cruiser and all or other ships in a production line, we'll be building a fleet in no time," I said.

"We still have to regain Corellia's support if we're going to build their CR90s," Sabine reminded me.

"Yeah," I agreed.

"So what's the plan once we get to Kuat?" she asked me.

"Bastian will give them docking codes for the weapon's depot, and me and you will find the weapons we need. Just like old times, almost."

"Do we have disguises?" she asked me then.

"Well all the stormtroopers assigned to this ship were given our standard uniform... or at least all we had. There's some scout trooper armor in your size, too."

I smiled, "Really?"

"Yup. I also found one for me, as well," Sabine said.

"If I remember correctly, you looked good in scout armor," I said.

Sabine blushed, "Shut up, that armor suits you better."

"Is this a flirt-fest?" somebody asked.

Sabine and I both turned to see Tristan standing just a couple meters away from us. My face was burning.

"I uh... h-how long were you standing there?" Sabine asked him.

"Long enough to hear all that flirting. Come on you two, it's about time we explained something," Tristan said.

"Explain what?" I asked.

"Derrick," Sabine muttered.

Tristan nodded. I felt Sabine gripping my arm then, but she wouldn't meet my eyes. She told me she would explain everything months ago, but we never found the time to. I just thought he was exiled and rejected from the Wren clan.

"I know you and him didn't see eye to eye on... well, anything," Tristan began, "but knowing how Jedi can be like, you wouldn't want somebody to die, especially for something so stupid."

"What?" I asked. Was he saying what I think he was saying?

I looked over to Sabine and she was staring at me. "What was the last thing you heard before you passed out?"

I rubbed my head, "Uh... I think I heard a blaster shot... You were pointing your blaster at him..."

"That blaster shot was fatal, but not immediate," Tristan said.

"What do you mean?" I asked, still not understanding it.

"I shot him in the chest, Ezra," Sabine forced out. I understood how this was hard for her and it clicked; she killed someone from her own clan, which was highly frowned upon in Mandalorian culture, or so I have been told.

"He didn't die instantly," Tristan said. "Sabine called for help and everybody ran in and found you on the ground, unconscious, and Derrick in the corner. The cauterization broke open..."

"He was dead anyway..." I muttered.

"I hit his heart," Sabine said quietly. "He bled out, but not before telling us we were all dead."

"At first we didn't understand what he meant until we discovered a holodisk programmed to the Imperial signal in his tent. He not only attacked a, granted wrongly accused, prisoner, but he betrayed his own clan," Tristan said bitterly. "He was framing you, but when that failed, he alerted the Imperials to our location."

"His death was justified," another Mandalorian said. "Though, Sabine still regrets over taking the shot."

"I only tried to stun him," Sabine objected. "I never intended to kill him."

"Doesn't matter, Sabine," Tristan said. "We would've executed him ourselves anyway."

She turned away and stormed off.

"Sabine..." I called out, but she didn't slow down.

"It's been hard on her. Killing a close friend and watching you suffer like you did," Tristan said. "She couldn't take it and she wasn't in any position to help without lethal intervention."

"Thanks for telling me all this," I said grimly.

"You need to know. I figured now was a good time," he said.

"Again, thank you," I said before taking off down the hallway to find Sabine.

I found her by the airlock, just staring out into space.

"Sabine..," I said.

"He was like a brother, Ezra. That's why I said no," she said.

"I don't think there's anything I can say that can help you. I've never been in your situation before so I wouldn't understand, but you have to let it go," I explained.

"I know but it's not that easy for me. You of all people in this galaxy know I don't do well with emotions," she said.

I nodded, "I know."

"Returning to my family and making things right with them was difficult enough for me, Ezra. This is something completely different."

I slowly approached her and she turned towards me, her bangs covering her eyes.

"Sabine, it's going to be okay. That was months ago," I said, trying to calm her down.

She took a step towards me and practically fell into me. She clung to my shirt and began sobbing. I wrapped my arms around her, keeping her on her feet.

"Sabine..."

"It's been killing me, Ezra. I've killed so many stormtroopers and other Mandalorians, but Derrick was one of us; Clan Wren," she sobbed.

"Shh... just let it out. You need this," I whispered. I could sense Tristan's presence just around the corner, along with that other Mandalorian, but I didn't care.

A few minutes had passed before Sabine finally calmed down.

Sabine never let go of me and it got to the point where I felt like I was on fire.

"You're really warm..." she said quietly.

"I uh... this..." I couldn't say anything.

"I'm... sorry," Sabine apologized. "I'm making you uncomfortable, aren't I?"

"N-No, it's just. We've been standing here for a while, we should check in with everybody."

"Actually it's only been a couple minutes," Tristan said, laughing.

Sabine finally separated herself from me, but the heat wouldn't dissipate.

"Tristan! H-How long have you..."

"This entire time, Sabine," Tristan laughed.

"Don't you dare tell mother," she warned.

"Relax, I'm not going to say anything."

Sabine relaxed a little as she turned back to me. "Sorry about all that..."

"It's... It's alright," I stammered.

Sabine smiled softly, "Ok well... I'm tired, and I'm going to get some rest before our op."

"Sounds like a good idea," I said, yawning right afterwards.

"You two want to share a room?" Tristan joked. The heat returned and Sabine's face turned red.

"Tristan!" she shouted.

"Alright, alright! Separate rooms it is," he said, still laughing.

…

 **6 Hours Later**

"Sir, we are exiting hyperspace," Bastian said. "Is everybody ready to go?"

"They are," I said. I was wearing my scout armor, but my helmet was sitting on the holotable next to me. "Everybody that's going out is in their armor, everybody for the worst case scenario is also ready."

Sabine entered the room wearing her own scout armor. She looked exactly like the time on Lothal when we destroyed the Temple.

I felt an elbow dig into my ribs and I turned to Tristan.

"You're staring at her again," he said quietly.

"Sorry," I said.

Sabine stood right next to me as the briefing began.

"Alright, is everybody here?" Bastian asked. We all nodded and he began the briefing. He was in charge right now.

"Good. We have just arrived at the Kuat system. The Empire hasn't attempted contact yet as the solar flare has already hit. However, that doesn't mean they can't signal us. We will try to approach the weapon depot without any contact, but if they regain their communications, they will contact us."

"If that's the case, we're ready. You still have the codes?" I asked Bastian.

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Anything more to go through?"

"I'm done here, sir. Table's yours."

"Alright. After we dock with the depot, we're going to act like a security team checking all the supplies. If any station security attempt to stop us, don't do anything to alert them. Just let me handle them," I said.

"If in any case they are alerted to our activity, Mando teams will be authorized to do what they do best," I said.

"What does that mean?" Tristan asked.

"Blow everything up," Sabine said. "With full pleasure."

"Yeah pretty much. In the situation we can't save all the weapons, just grab what you can and load it into the ship," I said.

"Any particular piece of equipment we're after, general?" a rebel soldier asked. He was wearing stormtrooper armor, but like everyone else his helmet was off.

"Mainly blasters and small artillery. Grab any and all the munitions you can carry. Each soldier will have a pack to store their things in and the armor is fitted with hardpoints to carry heavy weapons and or small artillery," I said.

"Don't forget detonators and grenades," Sabine said.

"Especially those," I agreed. "I need the Mando teams to secure the detonators and the small artillery. Rockets, launchers, everything you can grab. Sabine you can lead that team. I'll lead the rebel team to grab the blasters, and small munitions. If anybody finds any intel, grab it."

"Sounds good to me," Sabine said. "Bastian?"

"It's a good plan. We'll have the Resolute on standby just outside the system. I just received word they just arrived," he said.

"Very good. Good luck everybody, let's get this done," I said.

"Question, if I may," a rebel began.

"Go ahead."

"What if we run into any Kuat workers?"

"Tell them that we'll need their support," Sabine answered.

"Yes ma'am," the rebel said.

…

The Arquitens-class cruiser docked with the weapon depot and I saw a stormtrooper squad approaching the airlock through the viewports.

"Alright guys, remember. Don't say anything to them, let Ezra take care of this," Sabine said. She pressed a button on the side of her helmet and the front flipped down, covering her face. I pressed the button on my helmet as well.

"I can't see a thing in this thing," a rebel complained.

"I can fix that," Bastian said. "These helmets are programmed with a new security system. Anytime any non authorized wearer puts on a helmet, it makes it harder for that wearer to see. Just let me..." Bastian fussed with the rest of the helmets and finished before the doors opened.

"Better?" I asked quietly.

"Much better," the rebel said.

"Good," I said. "Follow me everybody. When I give the signal, split up and search."

"Yes sir!" everybody said.

We marched down the ramp and met the Imperial squad.

"Hold it, state your business," the lead trooper ordered.

"You should have been aware that a solar flare scrambled our sensors and communications," I said.

"Yes sir. Your point?"

"Security sweep. We have been authorized to search every compartment for any security breaches," I said.

"We've already done that," the troopers said.

"We're going to be more thorough. Step aside," I ordered.

"What's your operating number?" the trooper asked.

I was afraid of this, though I remained calm. I waved my hand and repeated what I said, "We are here for a security sweep."

The troopers immediately stood up straight and seemingly stared off into space.

"You are here for a security sweep," the trooper repeated.

"Step aside," I said then and the troopers stepped to the side and let us pass.

As soon as we were in the corridors leading away from the hangar, Sabine patted my shoulder.

"You still got it," she said.

"It was still too close for comfort," Tristan said.

"I agree with Tristan," I said. "Too close."

"Yet we still made it passed. Let's go find our weapons," Sabine said.

"Right, let's move!" I said.

I led my group to one part of the weapons depot and found the blasters and everything else we were looking for, just like Bastian said.

"Spectre 6 here. We found our guns, how's everything with you?" I said into our scrambled comms.

"We found our mortars, Spectre 6. Everything's all good here, for now," Sabine replied.

"Good. Grab everything you can then we're out of here," I said.

"Sir, I found the munitions, but there's too much to carry on our person. We'll need to bring the crates with us," one of the rebel soldiers said.

"Great... That's going to change things," I said. I pressed the button on my comms again. "Spectre 5, quick change of plans. Anything you can carry, do so, but we'll need to bring the crates with us as well."

"Yeah we've noticed that, too. What's your plan for this?"

"I'm working on that," I replied. "Let me know when you have all you can carry, then we'll rendezvous in the hallway. Spectre 6, out."

"Sir, we have everything. Let's get out while we can, the sensors should be back online in about 5 minutes."

I looked over what we had and sighed. There was still a lot we could get if we had more people and more time. "How much exactly do we have?"

"150 blasters, countless munitions... how's team 2?"

"Let me check," I said. "Spectre 5 what all do you have?"

"We have about 20 mortars, a lot of shells, a few boxes of detonators and launchers, etc. What about you?"

"150 blasters, munitions are similar to your mortar shells. The sensors are back online in 5 minutes, we should move while we can," I said.

"I agree. We have too few people here right now," Sabine agreed.

"Head back to the cruiser, I'll meet you all there. Spectre 6 out."

I turned to my team, "Let's go."

…

We just made it to the hangar with all of the equipment we could carry and once again we were stopped.

"Where are you taking these crates?" the trooper asked. "I thought you were here for a security sweep."

"Change of orders, we are to take these blasters to the Mandalore system. Recent rebel activity have routed the civilians there and our men our running out of munitions," I said.

The trooper stared at me for a moment, then studied the crates. "Those don't seem like enough crates to resupply our forces there. I'll assign a team to help load everything we have onto your ship."

"Thank you," I said. I waved my team forward and we loaded our weapon crates into the cargo hold. We still had plenty of room for everything in that particular armory.

Sabine elbowed me again, "That was some quick thinking. Why didn't I think of that?"

"They're likely going to catch on pretty quick so let's keep these crates coming before they figure it out," I said.

Bastian approached us then, "Their scanners are back online, as are communications. I heard your little bluff down there, but lucky for you it's no bluff for them."

"What do you mean?" Sabine asked.

"There have been riots on the surface and the Imperials on the ground there are indeed running out of munitions. We can get away from this no suspicions raised," he said.

"Sabine?" I asked.

She nodded, confirming the claim. She hacked into the Imperial network and heard everything.

"Alright, everybody keep up the act. Bastian, signal _Resolute_ and tell them we'll be a little bit longer," I said.

Bastian saluted me and returned to the bridge.

I turned around just as a fresh squad of stormtroopers carrying weapon boxes to the ship.

"Where to, sir?" the lead trooper asked.

"The cargo hold. Make it quick those troopers on Mandalore need these munitions," I said, giving my best Imperial accent.

"Yes sir!"

"Sir, can I speak to you for a second?" Bastian called out from the airlock.

"Of course," I said, following him to the officers quarters. I pulled off my helmet to get a better look.

"You should be wearing this," he said, gesturing to an officer's uniform. It had a high enough rank to order around the stormtroopers, but lower than the captain.

"You should get changed immediately. Those troopers could start asking for an officer and I must remain on the bridge," Bastian said.

"Very well," I said.

"Spectre 6, come in. Where are you?" Sabine asked through the comm.

"I'm dressing up as an officer. Horrible timing but it could help," I replied.

"Good because one of the troopers are asking for an officer," she said.

"I'll be there soon, keep them busy," I said.

…

"I'm going to need to see an officer out here," a trooper said just as I left the airlock.

"I'm right here," I said, surprising the trooper.

"Sir..."

"I hear you are causing a bit of a disturbance among my troopers here. They have been ordered to get these weapons to Mandalore asap and you're holding them up!" I snapped at him with my best Imperial accent I could muster.

"My apologies, sir. Please, let me get this crate for you," the trooper said as he hurried past me with a crate.

"Very convincing," Sabine whispered as she passed me with a crate.

"There's a uniform for you inside, too. Go get it," I said.

"I'll be recognized," she objected quietly.

"Suit yourself," I said. Sabine opened her helmet for a moment.

"By the way, you look better in that uniform than a stormtrooper," she whispered. She added a wink before closing her helmet at seeing a trooper approaching us.

"You there! Get back to work!"

"Sorry, sir," Sabine said before pushing the crate into the ship.

"There's 4 more crates left to load, sir. Would these be enough to hold back those rioters?" the trooper asked.

"Load those 4, double time," I said.

The trooper saluted me and marched off to get those 4 crates.

"Sir, I don't know how many more crates we can fit in here," Sabine said, acting her part.

"We'll have to make room for four more crates. Can you do that?"

"I can try, sir," she said.

"I need that space for four more, make it happen," I said.

I caught Tristan in his trooper outfit staring at me.

"What?" I asked him.

"You would definitely make a good Imperial officer," he said.

"I'm that convincing, eh?"

"Very much so," he said.

"The last four crates, sir!" the lead trooper said.

"Get them aboard. If there's no room in the cargo hold just set them by the bay doors," I ordered.

"Yes sir!"

"Sir, there's another ship approaching!"

I turned around and saw another Arquitens cruiser docking.

"Troopers, we'll handle this from here," I said, grabbing a crate.

"Yes sir," the troopers said.

Three rebels dressed as troopers grabbed the other three crates and followed me into our cruiser.

"Tristan, get the hatch!" I said.

Tristan pulled a switch and closed the airlock as I began running towards the bridge.

"Bastian, we got everything. We have to go, now!"

"I'm one step ahead of you, sir. As soon as I saw the airlock close I started our engines. Our port is detached from their port, we're moving!"

I looked around the bridge and noticed Sabine wasn't here.

"Where's Sabine?" I asked.

"She's in her quarters. Shall I comm her?" Bastian asked.

"No, I'll get her," I said.

"Sir, our coordinates are locked in," the nav officer reported.

Our comms went off.

 _"Attention Imperial Cruiser, hold your position immediately and prepare for inspection_!"

"Negative, tower! Our hyperdrive just malfunctioned, we can't shut it down!" Bastian shouted through the comms.

I signaled our nav officer and he jumped the ship.

"That was close..." I said.

"Too close," Bastian said.

"We're not heading towards our base, right?" I asked the nav officer.

"Standard protocol, sir, never jump straight to base from an enemy location. I've sent us towards Mandalore first, but we can drop out of lightspeed any moment."

"Do it. We need to get back to base," I said.

The ship lurched as it left lightspeed, then again as it re-entered lightspeed, this time towards our base.

I walked down the hallway and found Sabine's quarters. I knocked first, but received no response, so I rang the intercom. Still no response.

The door was unlocked though so I opened the door and didn't see anybody inside.

"Sabine, are you here?" I called out.

I heard something in the refresher and was tempted to open the door, but I decided against it.

"Sabine, you here?" I asked again.

"Y-Yeah. G-Give me a second?"

"Yeah sure," I said. I took a seat at the far end of the room and waiting a few moments.

The refresher door opened and Sabine stepped out, wearing some sort of uniform that I've never seen before. It did not resemble our rebel officer uniforms, nor the Imperial uniforms. The shirt had two colors: red and grey. The grey covered the chest and shoulders, then stretched down to the lower left abdomen, leaving a point at the beltline. The red covered the back and the lower right side of the torso, even cutting the grey sleeves in half by the right shoulder. Small black pauldrons rested on the shoulders as well.

The pants were black with a thin white stripe down the left leg from the beltline to the shoes, which were all black.

The shirt was buttoned down from top to bottom, the clips set off to the right side of the torso. The belt was pure black with a silver buckle.

 **Visualization: Gmail - icfr0st1real to see the uniform. Just pretend the insignia is the Rebel insignia. Also just know that I do not own this design. I don't know exactly who owns it, but just know it's not mine. However if you also wish to know what the _Avenger_ -class Star Destroyer looks like, I will gladly show you that as well. **

My jaw just dropped at the sight. It showed all the curves as well. The uniform was crisp, not even a wrinkle existed on it.

"Sabine..."

She was smiling, "What do you think?"

"You... The uniform... You..." I had no words. Sabine began blushing from my reaction and I couldn't stop staring.

"It's that good huh?"

"When did you..."

"I found that Imperial uniform and I changed it. Design is all different and obviously the colors..." she explained.

"It looks amazing, Sabine!"

"Well, I have another one being fabricated right now," she said. "I'm making one for you, too."

"What about the rest of command? And where did you find the supplies?"

"There was something else I grabbed while in the depot," she said. "I found a bunch of uniforms just waiting to be redesigned. I figured our officers should wear something more official."

"When will mine be finished?" I asked.

"Long before we get back to base," she replied.

"And what about this uniform?" I asked, referring to the Imperial uniform I was already wearing.

"Keep it. You never know when you would need it. That and you could add that to your collection," she replied. She suddenly had a very dreamy look.

"What?"

"Nothing... I was just thinking of how you would look in this uniform," she said.

"Have you seen yourself? I mean... Y-You look amazing in that uniform!" I said, almost without thinking.

Sabine's blush deepened and I felt myself heating up again.

"I'm sorry I..." I tried to say but Sabine silenced me.

"Ezra..."

She looked like she had something to tell me, and I could sense she did have something to tell me.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I…" she began. I sense she was very nervous then.

"I…" she sighed with frustration, "I'm sorry, I just can't..."

I was confused then. "Can't... what?"

"It's complicated," she replied.

"Alright... I'm going to see what all we collected. Let me know when that new uniform is finished," I said with a smile.

Sabine returned the smile and nodded, "I'll do that."


	8. Commander in Chief

**Chapter 8**

A couple hours passed since we left that Imperial weapon's depot over the Kuat system and I was just sitting in the mess hall of the ship when I was called to Sabine's quarters. People were looking at me, slapping my shoulder and everything, but I knew why I was called their. Sabine had mentioned while we were talking that she was working on my own uniform and that it would be finished before we get close to home.

I found her room and knocked. Immediately the door opened and I was pulled inside, which really startled me. Sabine was just inches from my face, but she looked anxious.

"Hey," I said.

"It's finished. Come on, you have to try it on!" she exclaimed.

"Alright, alright! I've never seen you so excited for something other than art and explosives," I joked.

"Just because I'm Mandalorian doesn't mean I'm all about explosives... though the art is understandable," she replied.

"Where is it?" I asked.

"In there," she replied as she pointed to the closet.

I walked over and opened the closet and sure enough, there was a brand new uniform sitting inside. I turned to Sabine and noticed she pinned a rank to her own uniform.

"Isn't that your...?"

"Yes this is my rank pin, now quit stalling and put on your uniform!" she said.

"Alright, I'll get it on," I said, chuckling.

I grabbed the new uniform, entered the refresher, and changed into the uniform. I was glad to get out of that stiff Imperial uniform and into a more comfortable one. I pinned my rank onto my chest and stepped out of the refresher. I found Sabine sitting on her bunk and I held my arms out perpendicular to my sides, slowly spinning around in a circle.

"What do you think?" I asked.

"Looks great on you, general," Sabine said, standing up and walking over to me. She pulled off my rank pin and pinned different ones onto my shirt, much like she did with hers.

"How's that, instead?" she asked.

I looked in the mirror and noticed the rank pins were dots... the same dots from the rank plates Hera had given us. Five red dots horizontal across the left side of my chest.

"Wait... these are..." I began to say, but Sabine interrupted me.

"Yup. I figured something like this would look more official," Sabine said.

"But..." I was about to ask, but she interrupted me again.

"I noticed our Army ranking had 1-5 spots, no rank having the same amount as the other, same for the Navy only they were blue," she said.

"Ours are red?" I asked, inspecting the pins in the mirror.

"As generals, yes. If we were admirals we'd never really see ground combat," Sabine said.

"And we're needed on the ground."

"Exactly."

"This is pretty cool, actually," I said, turning back to face Sabine. "You never cease to surprise me, or anyone else."

She blushed, "Well I aim to please."

"So what do we do? Wait until we get to base before leaving with these on or just go out around the ship?" I asked. Basically speaking I was asking if we keep this as a surprise or reveal this to our crew now.

"We can head up to the bridge now, actually," Sabine said.

"Cool," I said as I walked over to the door and opened it. I extended my hand outward. "After you."

Sabine smiled and shoved my shoulder as she stepped out of her room. She looked around a bit and whispered, "There's nobody here right now."

"Well there's definitely people in the bridge," I said. "Let's go."

We made our way around the corridors of the _Arquitens_ cruiser and passed a few of our guys. They just followed us, chattering the whole way. One guy caught up to me.

"Sir, where did you get those uniforms?" he asked.

I grinned a cocked my head over to Sabine. "Thank her for this, though these will be proposed as officer uniforms," I said.

"Correct," Sabine said. "Don't worry, I'm sure we can find something for you guys to wear."

"Yes, sir!" the rebel said before retreating back with his unit.

We got to the lift to the bridge and when we entered the bridge, people just stopped and stared.

"Generals?" an officer asked.

"Lieutenant," I acknowledged.

"What are you two wearing?" Bastian asked.

"Sabine made these uniforms for officers... eh, what specific ranks to you have in mind for these uniforms?"

"I want these to be given out as low as Captain, maybe Commander," Sabine said.

"Well, commander is still an officer rank, right?" I asked.

"It kind of depends on the branch," Bastian replied.

"So for the Navy it goes to captains, but to Army it goes to the Colonels," the ship's acting-XO said. He's acting-XO because we still have yet to decide who the real XO should be. Bastian has agreed to give up his command of the vessel just before we left, so this is his very last mission as captain of his cruiser.

"That sound's about right, but we still need to get through Hera," I said.

"Speaking of ranks," Tristan said, "and leadership, the rebellion doesn't have a commander-in-chief anymore since Mon Mothma, right?"

"What are you getting at, brother?" Sabine asked.

"I think I get it," I said. "You want to make Hera our Commander-in-Chief?"

"Somebody has to lead us," Tristan said.

"I'm inclined to agree, actually," Sabine said. "I can't think of anybody else capable of being Commander-in-Chief."

"Would Hera accept it, though?" I asked.

"She would have to," Sabine said. "If nobody else is willing to take on that role, she would have to. She's become the most important figure in this rebellion since Mothma died."

"Then it's settled," Bastian said.

"Not quite," I said.

"Ezra's right," Sabine began. "We still have to take this idea up to the rest of Central command, and even the pilots and infantry."

"She'd have to be elected, really," I said. "Mothma was almost completely self elected."

"She did bring all the cells together into one rebellion. You have to grant her that," Sabine said.

I shrugged, "Yeah I suppose."

"So start an election?" Bastian asked.

"Yup," I said.

"It's been too long since I've seen an election like this," Bastian said. "Imperial Senate not included, really. They never had any real power."

"What's our ETA to base?" Sabine asked as everybody finally gathered around the holotable.

"We have another 4 hours until we're home. I'm sure Hera would like to see those uniforms. I wouldn't be getting those anytime soon, though," Bastian said.

"Don't say that, captain. We're low on captains of any kind, I'm sure Hera would still grant you that rank," I said.

"I offered to give up my ship already. There's nothing else I could command here," he protested. "It's fine, really."

"No it's not," Sabine said. "I'll make sure you keep your rank."

"That's kind of you, general, but I must decline. Change of subject; We have taken inventory of everything we grabbed. I think we have more than enough to stage a decent rebellion, but then there's the fact we don't have the manpower."

"The weapons are good to hear, but you have a very good point. I don't think we were public in this op," Sabine said.

"We'll have to be public elsewhere," I said. "But what can we do?"

"You two can march around in a city in those uniforms. That insignia patch on your shoulders should give a decent clue to the civilians," Tristan suggested.

"Not bad, but we would be open targets, then," I said.

"That's true... then another public op?"

"That's what we're trying to figure out," Sabine said.

"We could see what Hera has for us," I said. "We can wait another 4 hours, or maybe contact her now."

"We have to get these weapons to base. We can't do anything else," Sabine said.

I mentally slapped myself, "Right..."

…

"Flight tower, this is General Ezra Bridger, requesting permission to dock," I said through the comms to our station flight tower, just four hours later.

 _"Acknowledged, General. Transmit clearance codes."_

I sent the docking codes and got the green light to dock the cruiser.

"Bastian, take us in," I said.

"Aye, general."

The ship faintly shuddered as the docking ports connected with the cruiser, locking it in place.

I pressed my finger into the comm panel, "Sabine, we're home. Get our crews to unload our cargo."

 _"I'm already on it,"_ she replied.

That's what I like to hear. "When you're finished up, we should report to the command center," I said then.

 _"Understood. I'm on my way,"_ she said.

"Bastian, you can handle it from here, can't you?" I asked him.

"Will do, general."

"Thanks," I said before running out of the bridge and leaving the ship.

As soon as my feet touched down in the hangar floors, I found Sabine over by the hangar doors so I ran to catch up.

"Hey wait up!" I shouted.

Sabine turned around and smiled as I slowed to a stop, putting my hands on my knees to catch my breath.

"Good timing. I was about to head up," she said.

"I thought you were going to wait for me," I said.

"Please, Ezra, you should know me better than that," she teased.

"Right. Anyway..." I said as the doors opened, "Race ya to the lift!"

I took off down the corridor, looking over my shoulder to see Sabine following, but slowly gaining.

"No fair," I muttered.

Instead of running past me, Sabine only stayed by my side, grinning the entire time.

We made it to the lift and I asked her why she didn't just run ahead.

"I'm not going to just leave you behind, lo-" She cut herself off.

"What was that?" I asked.

"N-Nothing..." she said quickly. "Let's just get up there."

I could sense her conflict, but I didn't want to press anything on her so I dropped the topic.

…

The lift doors opened and we stepped out into the command center where Hera was waiting for us.

"Ezra, Sabine, great work securing those weapons for us. Now all we need to more ships and person..."

She stopped speaking when she turned around and saw our uniforms.

"What's this?" she asked.

"Hera," Sabine began, "I think it's time we get more official uniforms again."

"Where did you get those?" Hera asked.

"I made them..." Sabine said.

"For both you and Ezra?" she asked.

"We propose that these uniforms be mass produced and handed out to any high ranking officer, starting from the Army's colonels, then to the Navy's captains. Of course any rank above them would also get a uniform just like it," I said.

"What about your ranks plates?" Hera asked. She noticed the red pins on our shirt pockets then. "Those the..."

"Ranks, yes. Sabine's thought things through, but of course these are only ideas. If you would allow it we would like to have them produced," I explained. I looked to Sabine and noticed she was blushing again.

"Well you two certainly look more official. I'll allow it," she said with a smile.

"One more thing," Sabine began. "Due to us being the only high ranked officers, including Rex and Wedge, I request we let Bastian keep his rank as Captain."

"Sabine, he said we don't have to do that," I protested. "I have nothing against him and I wish he keep his rank, but he said so himself he didn't want to keep that rank."

"Actually, I've been thinking it all through and everything," Hera said. She turned to a security guard, "Get Bastian up here."

A few minutes later, Bastian arrived to the command center, no longer wearing his Imperial uniform, but just some normal clothes. Nevertheless, he stood at attention and saluted Hera.

"You wished to see me?" he asked.

"I did. Sabine explained you should keep your rank, and Ezra said you didn't want to keep it, is that accurate?" she asked.

"I didn't think I would be keeping my rank due to being an Imperial and all," he responded.

"I'm allowing you to keep your rank and your command," Hera said. "We are in need of good officers and you have my respect."

"General I must protest..."

"This isn't a debate, Captain. You shall maintain your rank and your command," she said.

"Yes ma'am, but with all due respect, I no longer wish to command this vessel," Bastian said.

Hera nodded, "Very well. You maintain you rank, but you don't have to command that ship."

"Thank you, ma'am. And if I may, Ezra, Sabine. I have spoken to the others in the hangar and around the station. They all agree to your idea," Bastian said.

"What idea?" Hera asked.

"Eh, I... we can't say just yet..." I said.

"It's nothing bad, we can assure you that," Sabine said. "We just need to speak to the rest of Central Command."

"What are you three up to?" Hera asked.

"Let us just talk to Rex and Kanan about this first, then you'll know," Sabine said.

"Alright. No funny business," Hera warned.

…

"You want to what?" Kanan asked me. He and Rex were in the armory when we found them, and they seem surprised at this proposal.

"We wish to make Hera our new Commander-in-Chief. We need a new leader and she's more than qualified," Sabine said.

"Ok those uniforms are cool enough, but Hera being Commander of the Rebellion? That's a definite yes from me!" Rex exclaimed.

"I'm not wearing that uniform," Kanan said, "I have nothing against it, but I don't like wearing uniforms. As for Hera..."

"Kanan, we need your opinion on this," I said.

"Even if he says no, majority rules, right?" Rex asked.

"Well, yeah," Sabine said.

"Then it's settled! When does this start?" Kanan said.

"We'll need to find Hera now," I said. "She should still be in the Command Center."

"Alright," Kanan said.

"We should wait for a good time to do this, though," Rex suggested.

"Good idea," Sabine said.

"To do what, exactly?" Hera asked, making everybody jump.

"Hera! H-How long were you..." Sabine began to ask.

"Long enough to hear something about waiting for a good time to do something. Is this about this 'idea' you and Ezra have?" she asked.

Sabine and I looked at each other and I shrugged, "Might as well just tell her now."

"Tell me what?"

"Hera," Kanan began. "You have been with this rebellion since the beginning."

"I'm not leaving," Hera said sternly.

"We weren't going to say that," Sabine said.

"We figured you should take command, officially," Rex said.

"What do you mean?" Hera asked.

"Hera Syndulla," Rex began, "If you accept, you will be the new Commander-in-Chief."

Hera blinked once. Twice. "W-What?"

"We haven't had a leader since Mon Mothma's ship blew," Sabine said grimly. "Everyone that was capable of leading at that time was killed..."

"Even Leia," Rex said bitterly.

"I-I can't take that position..." Hera began.

"Technically, you already have," Kanan said.

"Hera, please," Sabine pleaded. "We need you to do this. There's nobody else more capable of leading a rebellion than you."

Hera looked like she was really considering it and much to our surprise she actually accepted the role.

"Congratulations, Commander in Chief," Kanan said, grinning.

"I can't believe this is happening," Hera said.

"I'll make the announcement," Rex said as he returned to the command center.

"Ezra, Sabine... thank you," Hera said.

"Don't thank us, Hera. We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you," Sabine said. I nodded in agreement.

"Ok, back to business. Have you two been able to have any contact with the Kuat people?" she asked then.

"No, but as you already know, we got more weapon crates than we thought we'd get. Ezra's plan worked flawlessly," Sabine said.

"I didn't do all the work," I protested, but Sabine was giving me a grateful look.

"Ezra," she began. "You thought of using the _Arquitens_ cruiser on this mission. We completely forgot about it."

"Sabine is right, Ezra. Your quick thinking avoided another potential bloodbath," Hera said.

I felt Sabine's hand brush mine and chills went up my spine.

"Congratulations, you two," Hera said. "I'll be returning to the command center and see what we can do with those weapons."

Kanan followed Hera back to the command center, leaving me and Sabine alone again in the armory.

Sabine was leaning on me a little bit.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"Mmhmm," she hummed. "I just feel tired all of a sudden."

I chuckled, "When was the last time you slept?"

"Two days," she answered.

"How are you even alive?" I asked her as I supported her, leading her to her quarters.

"Caf," she replied simply.

"You can't survive on caf, you know," I said.

"I know..." she said before yawning. She was slipping so I wrapped an arm around her back and under her arm, but she used the momentum of my movements to get in front of me.

"You've done more for me than I can do for you," she said quietly.

"You don't owe me anything," I said.

"Even so," she said. "I want you to know that anything you need me to do, I'll be there."

"Sabine, you've always been here," I said. I didn't understand what she was getting at.

Her arms were around my neck now, her face inches away again.

"You know what I mean," she muttered.

"Sabine, you're not thinking straight," I said.

"Ezra..." she muttered.

"Sabine, I'm taking you to your room. You're delirious from exhaustion," I said.

"I don't care," she muttered.

I didn't realize how hot I was getting until more chills spread throughout my body, making me shiver for a moment.

…

I managed to get Sabine back to her quarters, but by now she seemed so tired she wasn't speaking Basic anymore, but instead speaking Mando'a, her native language. If anything I had to guess she was sleep talking now.

She was saying so many things but one thing was heard more than the others; Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum.

Out of fear for my life, I didn't dare try to get her uniform off. Instead I just removed her rank pins and set them on her desk. Before I could walk away, however, I felt a tug at my sleeve. I looked down and found Sabine's hand gripping my uniform sleeve. We locked eyes and I guessed what she wanted me to do. I knelt at the side of her bed and she pulled me close. I knew my face was turning red at that moment.

"S-Sabine?"

"Mmm... Can you stay?"

"F-For how..." I gulped, "For how long?"

"Just until I fall asleep," she moaned sleepily.

"That won't be very long," I joked.

In response, she just pulled my head down onto her pillow, but that left me in a very uncomfortable position. I adjusted my stance so I could be more comfortable, even using the force to pull up a chair.

"Ezra?"

"Hm?"

"You're never going to leave me?"

That surprised me.

"Of course not! What kind of idea is that?"

She smiled and let out a sigh, seemingly of relief.

"Good..." she sighed. She closed her eyes and pretty soon, I found myself drifting to sleep also.


	9. Signal from Kamino

**Chapter 9**

 **For story purposes, there will be a time gap.**

I lost count on the time since we gathered those weapons from that weapon depot, but we have so many new members. So many successful public missions on several worlds, though we don't get a lot of new members a day. The first to join our reborn rebellion were mostly the original deserters, and all thanks to Vizago, they were told our set rendezvous coordinates in wild space, not too far from Polis Massa. We have enough personnel to keep Polis Massa fully operational, and simultaneously this station a quarter full. If I never mentioned how large this station was, it's unimaginably big to be a spatial drydock.

As for my personal life, I never stopped thinking about that one night in Sabine's quarters and not by choice. Wedge and Zeb never let me hear the end of it so it's very hard to even think about forgetting. They give Sabine a hard time, too... or try to be more accurate. She pulls the rank card on them a lot, though a lot of the time Zeb ignores it, even though he's a colonel. Nevertheless all that teasing created an awkward tension between me and her.

"So..." Wedge began, but before he could continue, I interrupted him.

"Don't even start," I mumbled, taking another bit of my food. We were eating lunch in the mess hall.

"It's getting kind of annoying, honestly," Bastian said. He used to tease, but very quickly stopped.

"I suppose you're right. Zeb wants me to keep doing that, but I've honestly been considering stopping," Wedge said.

"Really?" I asked, not convinced.

"I realized it was all pointless," he said.

"You just now realized that?" Bastian asked.

As the two began to bicker, I focused my attention on something else... more accurately someone else.

Sabine just entered the mess hall. She picked up a tray and began filling it with food.

Somebody shoved my shoulder and my attention snapped back to Wedge and Bastian. He's actually have grown to be quite popular among the rest of us, and he is friends with everyone. Turns out he wasn't much older than I was at 26. He especially became close friends with me and Sabine, to the point where we see him almost as an older brother.

"Station to Ezra! Are you here?" Wedge asked rather loudly. I could sense that people from the other tables were watching.

"Yes I'm right here!" I replied, turning back to my food.

"What were you staring at?" Bastian asked. "We said your name like 5 times!"

"I think I know," Wedge said. I saw Bastian throw a glare at Wedge, but he quickly gave a response. "I'm not teasing, I'm serious! Sabine's right over there."

Bastian looked over to the left, right past me.

"Oh... alright," he simply said.

"Sabine just left the food bar," I said quietly.

Yes there's an awkward tension sometimes between us but we don't try to avoid each other.

"She's been busy with something lately so we haven't talked in a while," I said.

"I've noticed," Bastian said. "Anyway, are you up for some shooting practice? I hear they fixed those training droids."

"About time," Wedge said.

I saw Sabine sit down at an empty table so I grabbed my tray and stood up.

"Where are you going?" Bastian asked.

"Going to keep her company," I replied. "No thanks to you, Wedge."

"Hey!"

"It's true," Bastian said, laughing.

"Yeah laugh all you want, it's not my fault!" Wedge defended.

I just sighed and walked over to Sabine's table. She didn't seem to notice my approach.

"Is that seat taken?" I asked.

She looked up at me and smiled, "Oh hey! I didn't know you were in here."

I returned the smile and sat down in front of her.

"I was just over there. I'm surprised you didn't hear Wedge just a few moments ago," I said.

"Well with everything going on around here it's becoming second nature to ignore random outbursts," she replied.

"Yeah," I said. "So, how's this project of yours coming along?"

Sabine tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She dyed it a bright blue recently which really took my breath away. That was before she got so distracted, too.

Her smile brightened, "It's doing great! I really wish I could show you, but you have to wait until it's finished.

"What exactly are you working on?" I asked then.

"Combat uniforms," she said.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yes. Our current ones are good for mobility, but protection isn't very good. Unlike the stormtroopers where it can take a couple shots."

"Except for one well placed shot," I said.

"So what's new for you?" Sabine asked then.

"Well Wedge finally agreed to shut up about... you know," I said, growing nervous about the topic. I could sense the same feeling with her.

"Good. It needed to stop," she said.

"Then there's Zeb. He's not so often anymore but he still jokes about it," I said.

"So I've heard."

There were a few moments of silence before Sabine suddenly dropped her fork and grabbed my hand.

"Actually, there's something else," Sabine said.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Remember those riots on Mandalore?" she asked.

"I can't forget," I said.

"I was listening to the Holonet and the Empire declared full martial law on the planet and any surrounding world belonging to Mandalore. They've... the Empire executed almost a quarter of the population. My home surrendered..."

"You can't be serious," I said.

"They've finally done it, Ezra," she said bitterly. "They've officially brought Mandalore to it's knees."

"They shouldn't be able to do that!" I exclaimed.

"Who, other than us, is going to try to stop them?" she asked.

She got me there.

"Are we going to do something about it?" I asked.

"Last I heard, the Death Star was there," she said.

Even with our steadily growing numbers and fleet, the Death Star was still a huge obstacle for us.

"Sabine, I'm sor-"

 _"General's Ezra Bridger and Sabine Wren, report to the Command Center."_

I grit my teeth at the comm device on our wrists.

"Subtle," I muttered as Sabine and I stood up and set our trays on the conveyor belt for the cleaner droids, then made our way to the Command Center.

"Ezra, Sabine," Hera said.

"Hera, is something wrong?" Sabine asked before I could.

"We're not sure," she replied. "We've picked up some sort of signal not too far off from Kamino. We can make out voices and a few words, but we don't know what it is."

"Is it a distress signal?" I asked.

"We're not sure, but we don't think so," Hera said.

"What would you like us to do?" Sabine asked.

"I know you two have some tension due to Zeb's constant teasing, but I want to know if you two..."

"We'll be fine," Sabine said.

I was relieved she said that.

"Good. I need you to take the _Resolute_ out and investigate, but be careful. Don't just jump on into the system since we don't know what's over there," Hera said.

Sabine and I saluted and began to make our way to our hangar. Of course, the _Resolute_ was still in Bay 4 where we originally found it. To get to our hangar, at least from where we were, we had to pass Bay 3. As we walked passed it, I looked through the windows and grinned at the sight of a nearly completed _Avenger_ -class Star Destroyer.

"She's coming along nicely," Sabine commented. "They're naming it the _Reclamation_."

"That's a fitting name. Who's commanding it?" I asked.

"I don't know yet. We still need candidates for command, but one thing's for sure, it's going to be under an Admiral," Sabine replied. The hangar was finally out of view and we sped up our pace.

We passed a few engineers and they saluted us as we passed by.

"That's not really necessary right now," Sabine muttered. "Those guys are starting their shifts."

"How can you tell?" I asked.

"The mess hall is the other direction."

"Isn't there multiple halls? I mean, this station is really big," I said.

"You have a point," she said.

"Engine systems are online."

"Shields on standby."

"Primary and secondary batteries charged and ready."

Three different station officers all sent their reports.

"Comm, you know what to do," Sabine said.

The comm officer began speaking to the flight tower, requesting departure.

Moments later, the ship shuddered as the docking clamps released their grip on the ship and retracted, making room for the _Resolute_ to maneuver.

"Repulsors are active," Sabine said. She looked to me and smiled, "Your turn."

I returned the smile and turned my attention to the helm.

"Take us out, slowly," I said.

Slowly, we started drifting out of the hangar and we soon found ourselves on the other side of the shield. Outside, there were our last two CR90s flying about since we haven't started building more just yet. Flying just opposite of the corvettes were a few _Arquitens_ light cruisers. Turns out there's a difference between the command cruiser and the light cruiser; light cruiser having more laser batteries than the command cruiser. The Empire's command cruiser replaced those guns with escape pods, not that they did any good. Tenith, our Mandalorian engineer, really did a good job building more of those ships, and Sabine did the paint job. She didn't go overboard this time since we only needed just a color lining and the emblems.

We also managed to pick up a few more defectors within these past several months, too. This time it wasn't just the _Arquitens_ cruisers, but more of the _EF76 Nebulon-B_ frigate. All thanks to the crews of those ships, they were able to convince the Kuat Drive engineers to secretly construct the Nebulon-Bs and the Arquitens light cruisers.

"General, we are clear of the station," the helmsman said.

"Set a course to the Kamino system, but do not drop us within it," I said.

"Sir?"

"We don't know what's out there, and we don't want to compromise this ship," Sabine said. "Make sure we leave lightspeed outside the system."

"Yes sir!"

The nav officer looked up at me, "Course set, general."

I nodded and he brought us to lightspeed.

"We should be there in about 30 minutes," Sabine said.

We were sitting in the officer's club not too far from the ship's mess hall. The room itself was almost like a mini mess hall, but there were things in here that the other guys had no access to. Especially some of the best drinks.

Other than me and Sabine, there was almost nobody in this room. The commanding officers that relay orders from us to the boys sitting at the consoles have access since they are considered to be officers, even though they don't have the necessary rank to be in here, but nobody has any problems with it.

The only two "officers" in here that have the commander rank is the tactical officer and the flight commander. The navigation and communication officers are one rank below the official officer rank.

It's been close to an hour since we left the station for Kamino.

"30 minutes..." I repeated. "That's not too bad compared to Kuat."

Sabine smiled, "Well we haven't been doing much."

"So..." I began, remembering what she told me earlier in the station mess hall, "Tell me more about this new combat gear you're working on."

"I'm sorry, but that's classified information," Sabine joked.

"I'm the same rank as you," I protested.

"Actually, I think you outrank me just a little," she said.

"I can't do that to you," I said. "We're both the same rank, that's it."

"We can be the same rank, but you could still be my superior officer," Sabine countered.

"Either way, declassify it for me," I said.

"I understand what you mean, but the wording..."

"Yeah alright," I said. "What's this new combat gear about?"

"I've studied records and even compared Rex's old armor to my Mandalorian armor and they are similar. Records say that was supposed to be that way since Rex and his clones are grown from Mandalorian DNA," she explained.

"You want to model our battle armor after your..."

"I'm not finished," Sabine said. "More records show the gear the Old Republic used for their army and it's similar to the clone armor used during the Clone War, but even with all that I don't think our armor should be designed like that. Maybe just the same material, but looking more like this..." Sabine said, showing me her design from her datapad.

"The armor should be able to easily change colors and patterns, depending on the kind of mission," Sabine continued as she swiped through the camo patterns for desert, snow, and forest planets. "The natural color of the armor would be more silver, but with the changing paints and patterns, it could be anything."

 **If you look up Old Republic soldier, look for a picture of guys in a red suit and yellow visors. That's the general idea, but**

"Visor covering the eyes, gauntlets, shoulder guards..."

 **Shoulder guards/pauldrons, whatever they're called.**

"All the armor plates are separate, but will be attached to a body glove of sorts," Sabine said. "And yes it is pretty much full body armor, just not as bulky as the Old Republic or the clone troopers."

"So basically it's all modeled after your armor?" I asked.

"Yes and no. The helmets don't have a T-visor. It's a lot like our pilot helmets, but it's more streamlined and gives better protection," she said. "As for the armor itself, we can't make it out of beskar, which is the metal my armor is made from. We'll have to make the armor from some sort of durasteel alloy. Some Mandalorians didn't have a full beskar suit, but this alloy is a good replacement."

"That could be expensive," I said.

"It could be, I agree, but with any scrap parts we collect we could make our own. Remember, our station is also a shipyard, so there's going to be places to forge the materials," Sabine said.

"Well..." I began. "Your last outfit designs finally got through to mass production... sort of, so we'll have room to get this done."

I suddenly sensed some mental hesitation from Sabine.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I was just thinking... You know there's nothing wrong between us, right?" she asked.

"Yeah," I said.

"I don't feel right when you don't feel comfortable... And I never said this yet but, I'm sorry," she said.

"Sorry for what, Sabine?"

"I wasn't thinking right that night," she said quietly so the other two officers couldn't hear.

Blood rushed to my face. I never thought Sabine would bring up that topic.

"No, Sabine that... that wasn't your fault," I said. "You told me to stay until you fell asleep, but I ended up dozing off myself. If I didn't doze off... you get the idea."

"I don't want to be a burden to you," she sighs in response.

"Are you kidding? You're never a burden to me, Sabine. But... why do you want to talk about this now?" I asked.

"There's something I've wanted to tell you for a long time, Ezra. But with everything going on, I don't think I'm ready to say just yet."

I smiled and rested my hand on hers. She looked up into my eyes.

"Don't worry about it. Just take as much time as you need, we can figure it out," I said. "Whatever it is, it doesn't have to be now, or in the immediate future, but someday."

Sabine smiled and nodded, "Alright."

"Did that help?" I asked.

"A lot. Thank you, Ezra," she said.

I never realized I didn't remove my hand from hers, but it just felt right. Unfortunately, we had to go back to being professional.

We had a couple drinks before we were called back up to the bridge. We were coming up on Kamino.

We left hyperspace just outside the system. We couldn't see planets but we could see the star in the center of the system, though it was still very small, much like all the other stars around us.

"We are just outside the system, general. What are your orders?"

I looked to Sabine, "Any ideas from here?"

She nodded, "Of course. I suggest we send probes out, or a scout if we don't have probes."

"We don't have any probes, but we do have some X-wings," the flight commander said.

"Send him out. We need to make sure there's no Imperial presence," Sabine ordered.

"Understood, general."

I watched as the dorsal hangar doors opened and a single X-wing fighter flew out. This particular X-wing wasn't fit for combat, but instead for reconnaissance. The pilot jumped into hyperspace and disappeared from view, but just seconds later, he was heard through the comms.

 _"Everything looks clear of Imperials, but there is something here."_

"Can you describe it?" Sabine asked.

 _"No, but I know it's not Imperial."_

"Very well. Nav, get us in there," I ordered.

For just a second we saw the blue lining of the hyperspace jump, then normal space again. The ocean planet of Kamino was right below us, but in front of us was what we were told about.

"Sabine?" I asked as we stared at the ship.

"That's definitely not Imperial..." she muttered.

"It looks like a kind of transport," I said. "Sabine, is there anything on your datapad for this?"

She shook her head. "Not for this. Whatever that ship is, it looks like it's going to fall apart."

Our recon pilot commed us again.

" _Sir, they're not responding to my transmissions. Permission to take a closer look?"_

"Permission granted, but stay cautious," I said.

The X-wing got smaller as it approached the unknown vessel. I turned to the tactical officer.

"Raise shields, keep weapons ready but do not fire unless I say so," I said.

"Yes, sir!"

"Shields up, General," the tac officer reported a few seconds later.

" _General, I'm picking up a signal from this ship. It matches the one from earlier,"_ the recon pilot reported.

"That's it. Comm, hail them," Sabine said.

"Your're on, general," the comm officer said.

"Ezra," Sabine said quietly.

I nodded and began to speak.

"Attention unidentified craft! I am General Ezra Bridger of the Rebel Alliance. We received a signal from your ship and were sent here to investigate. Please respond soon if not immediately."

I motioned for the comm officer to mute any output audio. Sabine started to talk about prepping a shuttle for a boarding party in the case they don't respond.

Fortunately, it didn't take long for the crew of that bucket of bolts to reply.

" _Rebels? So the rumors are true!_ "

I cued the mics back on. "Identify yourself."

 _"Of course! My bad. My name is Trace. My crew and I have been trying to locate your people for a while. We wish to join the Alliance._ "

"How do we know you're not just a trap the Imperials set up?" Sabine asked then.

 _"I suppose I can't really do much right now to prove it, really,"_ Trace said.

I looked to Sabine, "What do you think of this?"

She raised her hand to her chin in thought. "Knowing the Empire, they wouldn't do this sort of thing. They'd usually be more direct in their approach, but that doesn't mean they aren't behind this. They've taken advantage of mysterious signals in the past."

"Well, there's nothing we can do from here. We'll need to board it to know for certain," I said.

"I agree. I'll take care of things here while you're over there," Sabine said.

I nodded and left the bridge, heading for the hangars. Sabine told me through my wrist comm that she ordered a team to await my arrival, so when I got to the hangar, there was a shuttle prepped and a boarding team ready to go.

"General," the team leader began, "We're all ready to go when you are, sir."

"Good. We're going now. Get everybody on board," I said.

"Yes, sir."

As the team filed into the shuttle, I felt something tap my shoulder. I looked around and saw a security officer holding a flak jacket.

"You should wear this, sir. For your protection," he said.

I took the armor and thanked the guard before boarding the shuttle.

I did a quick head count and checked everybody on board.

"That's everyone. Let's get going," I told the pilot.

We took off from the _Resolute_ and flew straight for the other vessel. A few moments later, the pilot mentioned we were beginning our final approach to their docking ports and I turned my attention to my team.

"Alright, I want things to be nice and simple; no actions that could cause alarm to these people. Set all blasters to stun and keep them that way."

"What about the safety?" a man asked.

I just stared at him for a few moments until I heard another man mumbling.

"Rookies..."

"Just to be clear, how many of you actually saw combat, besides the simulators?" I asked.

None of the men made a move to confirm anything, so I continued. "So technically that means you're all rookies. It doesn't matter how long you've been in an army, but how much experience you've had in it."

"Yes sir!"

We docked with the ship and the airlock doors opened, showing a bunch of guys that looked exactly the same.

"Remember, no alarming movements," I said.

"Are you General Bridger?" one of the guys asked.

I nodded and the man continued, "It's a pleasure to meet you in person, General. I'm Trace."

"The pleasure is all mine," I said in return.

"Please, come aboard. Make yourselves comfortable," Trace said.

He led us to what I assumed was the bridge of his ship and we began talking.

"Now," he began, "You said you got our transmission?"

"We did, but it wasn't very clear. It was a broken transmission," I replied.

"I was afraid of that," Trace said. "We built this ship almost purely from scrap. We didn't expect the comm relay to even work that much."

"What were you trying to say?" I asked.

"We were searching for you and your people. You see, as you might have already noticed, my men and I are all alike," he said.

"Are you clones?" I asked.

Trace smiled, "We are. Though everyone you see here was copied from me, of course. The original clones were either killed off or set to work for the Empire. I, obviously did neither."

"If you're a clone... did you see Order 66?" I asked. I remember Kanan telling me about order 66 when we first met Rex and his clones.

"Sadly, yes. I was part of a commando squad called Ion team. None of us obeyed the order, and I was the only survivor," Trace said, a hint of sadness in his voice.

"Do you know Rex?" I asked then.

"CT-7567? He's alive?"

I nodded.

"I've never met him personally, but I've heard a lot about him. He would've made a good commando if he was selected for the program," Trace said.

"I'm sure he was happy with the 501st," I said. "Not to be rude or anything."

"No that's alright. I was thinking the same thing, really."

"We'll be happy to provide safe travel to our base, but first we'll need to get you and your men checked out. How many are we talking?"

Trace thought for a moment. "I think just about 300, give or take."

My jaw about dropped to the floor, "300 clones?"

"Give or take that, yes. We've attempted to avoid fighting the Empire unless we had an army. This battalion is the last surviving battalion of the clones," Trace said.

"Do you have your own shuttles?" I asked.

"No," Trace replied.

"Alright, just give me a moment," I said as I activated my wrist comm.

"Sabine, you read me?"

 _"Loud and clear. What's up?"_

"I'm going to need shuttles to transfer 300 clones, give or take," I said.

 _"300 c-clones? What...?"_

"Trace here is a Clone War veteran who disobeyed Order 66. Not only him, but his squad, though he was the only surviving member afterwards. He, uh... cloned himself and tried to form an army, but... the Empire?"

Trace nodded.

"The Empire tried to kill them all off. This ship is all that's left of them," I finished explaining.

 _"O-Okay then. I'll send our shuttles right away!"_

The transmission was closed and I turned back to Trace.

"You wanted to have an army? Welcome to the Rebellion, Trace," I said.

…

About an hour later, the last of the clones were loaded into the shuttles and were transferred to the _Resolute's_ medical bay to be tested for any control chips or anything that the Empire could have implanted. Transmitted reports read clear, much to my relief. A battalion of clones would be helpful to the cause, but that's the best we can have from them.

"Last shuttle," I said as the shuttle docked with the scrap ship.

"Alright, let's get out of here," I said to my team.

Trace, along with my men and a few of his own, boarded the shuttle, making me the last man in.

"Alright, we're all accounted for," I said to the pilot.

"Yes, sir! Undocking from whatever this thing is," the pilot said, making a few guys snicker.

"We've called it Scrapyard for a long time. I'm not sad to leave it," Trace said.

When we were about halfway between Scrapyard and the _Resolute_ , the pilot started shouting through the intercom.

 _"All passengers strap yourselves in! Imperial Star Destroyer emerging from hyperspace!"_

Everybody stopped laughing and strapped themselves into their seats and I commed Sabine.

"Sabine, do you hear me?"

 _"I hear you. An Imperial Star Destroyer just emerged from hyperspace in front of us!"_

"I know. We need some cover, we're only halfway there," I said.

 _"I see you,"_ she said before going quiet for a few seconds. _"I just ordered your pilot to head for the portside hangar."_

The shuttle shook as we took on fire from the Imperial's fire, and I heard the screeching of TIE engines all around us.

"General, they're everywhere!" the pilot shouted.

"Just focus on keeping us alive," I said.

I stared hearing laser fire from both TIE's and rebel fighters, along with the sounds of the _Resolute_ 's main cannons opening up on the enemy star destroyer, alongside the rapid-fire point defense cannons.

"Brace yourselves, we're making a combat landing!" the pilot shouted.

Seconds later, the shuttle shook violently and threated to split open, and the sound of a laser cannon smacking the left right side of our shuttle overpowering the shouts and screams of my men.

"We've been hit! I'm losing control of the- AAGH!" the pilot shouted before a shot penetrated the cockpit, killing him instantly.

I could sense his life fleeing through the Force, but that was the least of my worries. Our pilot was dead and we began spinning out of control, straight towards the hangars.


	10. Maridun

**Chapter 10**

Last thing I remember before I was knocked out was crashing into the hangar floors and sliding across the hangar into the opposite wall. Everything else after that was pitch black and pure silence. I couldn't feel anything, either, so that was a bonus.

But slowly, my hearing returned, as did my vision and sense of feeling. I was almost relieved until a wall of pain crashed into me at full force. My vision and hearing started to just fade in and out from then on out.

 _"We need help over here! The General is hurt, bad!"_

 _"He's flatlining again... Shock him again!"_

I woke up and immediately knew where I was. Unlike the last time I was in this situation, I could remember exactly what happened.

I looked to my left and saw doctors and nurses walking about the medical bay, tending to the wounded crew.

I expected to see the same scene to my right, but instead I saw Sabine sitting on a stool, slumped over with her head on the bed. I felt something warm resting on my right hand and I knew what it was. I smiled softly when she gripped my hand tighter for a moment before going slack again.

I slid my hand out from under hers and watched as she slowly woke up.

She blinked a few times and looked around the room before locking eyes with me. I've never seen her eyes as wide as they were now.

"Ezra!" she exclaimed with excitement. "You're... You're awake!"

I laughed, "Yeah. I'm awake... how long was I out?"

"A couple days, but you scared the life out of me! The medics were working on you non stop until you were stable!"

"How bad this time?" I asked

"Some metal pierced your armor, but it missed everything major, except for an artery," she said. Her voice began to break. "I was afraid you were going to bleed out, Ezra."

I sat up and noticed a decent size scar along my left side. Before I could do anything else, I felt Sabine's warm hand on my arm so I turned back to her. I saw tears in her eyes, but she was smiling.

"I'm glad you're alright, Ezra," she said.

I returned the smile and a medical droid approached us.

"He should be able to walk around, but I recommend he takes it easy for a while," the droid said.

"I can still work, right?" I asked.

"Yes, but try to avoid physical combat for the next week," the droid said.

"I managed to repair your uniform," Sabine said. "It's been sitting here for a while." She turned over to the neatly folded clothes on the desk next to my bed.

"Let's get to work, then. I want a status report by the time I get to the bridge," I said, getting straight to the point.

Sabine smiled, "Yes sir. I'll meet you on the bridge."

She left then and some medics helped me up and made sure I was stable on my feet before letting me get dressed in my uniform.

Normally I wouldn't like uniforms, but this is something Sabine designed so I had no problem with it.

As I made my way to the bridge, every single rebel on the ship saluted as I passed them.

…

Applause surrounded me after I entered the bridge and several officers clapped me on the shoulder, though they were careful not to injure me any more than I already was.

"Alright, everybody back to work!" Sabine shouted and everybody slowly began returning to their stations. "Here's that status report I promised." She handed me a datapad and I looked through it.

"If there's anything I hate more than the Empire, it's paperwork," I said as I read the report.

Sabine let out a small laugh, "It's good to have you back."

After reading the report, I handed it back to Sabine and she handed it to another officer.

"We had moderate damage long our structure, not enough to cripple the ship, but enough to knock our weapons offline. We lost two whole squadrons of fighters and last I heard from our clones, Trace survived and is currently being treated in a bacta tank. Other than you, he was the only survivor from the shuttle."

"How exactly did we survive? The pilot died," I said.

"The co-pilot was able to take some control of the craft, not entirely, but enough to direct the shuttle into the hangar and keep it upright. Engines and everything else was offline," Sabine explained. She tapped around on the holotable and selected some security footage from the cameras in the port hangar.

The shuttle was a ball of fire, but you could see the copilot struggling to control the crash landing. Nevertheless, the speed of our approach was too much and we crashed into the wall, effectively knocking the camera offline for a few moments.

"That's about it. By the time the cameras were back online, there was so much smoke and fire we couldn't see anything from them," Sabine said.

"Where are we now?" I asked.

"I don't know, actually. We made a blind jump as soon as our remaining fighters landed, but we're not in any known system," she said.

I walked up to the front of the bridge and looked out. It was clear we took a beating.

"It's just like at Mandalore," I said.

"Though this time the Empire got the drop on us," Sabine said, nodding. "They threw everything at us."

"It was only one star destroyer?" I asked.

"Yes, but after you crashed, they maneuvered to broadsides and opened up on us. We weren't prepared, so we didn't stand a chance," she said. "Then there was me... I watched the crash and it took everything I had not to lose focus..."

"But it was too much?" I asked.

Sabine nodded, "Everything happened so fast, I had no idea what to do."

"It's not your fault," I said. "We can talk about this later. Right now we need to find out where we are and calculate our jump home."

"I think I might have something, sir," the nav officer called out, running up to us.

"What do you have?" I asked.

"We seem to be somewhere in the middle rim, general. We're not in any hyperspace routes or systems, but if my theory is correct, we should be..." the officer opened a small map of the galaxy on the forward console, "right about here." A small, blue dot appeared in the center of the middle rim, nowhere near a planet or hyperspace route . "Our base is over here." A green dot appeared outside of the galaxy, directly behind us.

"Do we have enough fuel to get home?" I asked.

"I don't think so, but there is a planet halfway there that seemed to have no importance to the Empire so we can stay there and call for some assistance."

"Set a course," I said.

"Yes sir! And if I may, it's good to see you're alright," the officer said before returning to his post.

The ship began to turn as the nav computer aligned the ship to the coordinates, and moments later, we were in hyperspace.

"I know you just woke up," Sabine began, "But we should head to the officer's club and relax for a bit."

"We're not out of danger," I pointed out.

"While we're in hyperspace, I'd say we're safe enough for now," she said. She turned to the nav officer. "Let us know when we're exiting lightspeed."

The officer nodded and Sabine urged me to follow her. I finally agreed to join her and have a couple drinks. After all, she did look like she needed it after everything we've been through.

"You alright?" I asked her as we sat down at a booth, facing each other.

The holographic menus appeared in front of us and we selected our drinks.

"I'm just... tired of all this," she said.

"What do you mean?" I asked

"I want to openly fight the Empire like we used to. Just like Scarif," she said. "Only without the Death Star."

"Sabine," I began. "Until we destroy the Death Star, we can't deal with full contact..."

"I know how you feel," she said.

"What?"

"When Lothal was under full occupation, I didn't fully know how you felt. Now I do, and just like you I would do anything to liberate my homeworld."

A droid approached our booth and set down our drinks in front of us.

"I know you're feeling the same way again for Lothal. The Empire taking that back after Yavin and everything," Sabine said.

"Sabine..." I began. I actually didn't know what to say.

"I'm sorry... I brought us here to relax. I shouldn't have gone down that road."

I lifted my glass and gulped down a bit of my drink.

"And I'm actually tired," Sabine said out of nowhere, but the random and sudden change of tone made me laugh.

"What?" she asked, laughing softly as well.

"I'm sorry, it's just. That was sudden," I said.

Sabine drained her glass, ordered another drink, and looked out the window at the hyperspace tunnel.

"Did you work on that armor these past couple days?" I asked, not really sure what to talk about.

"No. I actually left the blueprints and the... prototype at base," she said.

I about choked on my drink. "You never mentioned a prototype!" I coughed.

"I was getting ready to test it after lunch but we were deployed in the middle of that," she explained. The droid returned with another glass of whatever drink Sabine ordered. Before leaving, it picked up the empty glass and left.

"Well then I guess we'll need to work on it when we get the chance," I said.

She raised an eyebrow, "We?"

"If you don't want my help, that's alright," I said, raising my hands.

Sabine smiled, drained a quarter of her glass, then slid around the booth until she was right next to me. "You could be my test subject, then."

"You make it sound like a chemistry experiment," I said.

"I could make it a chemistry experiment," she said quietly. We locked eyes for a long moment.

"Whatever you've ordered," I began, "I think it's getting to your head now."

Sabine winked and rested her head on my shoulder. "I know exactly what I'm doing."

I chuckled, "I don't know about that."

Sabine lifted her head off my shoulder and looked back up at me.

"What are you thinking?" she asked me.

"You're really close," I said. "Not that it's a problem or anything."

She smiled and nestled closer. "I don't know what I would have done if you died. You promised you'd never leave me."

"Sabine?"

"Hm?"

"You're acting strange," I said, blushing.

She looked up at me again, "You don't like being this close to me?"

"That's not what I meant..." I said quickly. "It's just... We're still on duty and everything."

Sabine frowned, but nodded. "Yeah, you're right. One question though: When did you get so focused on work?"

I shrugged, "I... I guess the Empire knocked some sense into me."

"I'm not convinced, there's more to this," she said, staring at me directly. She seemed fully awake now and was off me.

I sighed, "I don't want to lose all this again. We finally have a better shot at fighting the Empire with all we found. More importantly I don't want to lose anybody else... especially you."

Sabine's gaze softened.

"Ezra, you don't need to worry about me. If anything I'm more worried for you. You've been stuck in a medical bay twice within a year with life threatening injuries. I'm amazed you're even alive!" she said. "Not that I don't want you to live or anything, I mean... Many people wouldn't survive a near death experience, let alone two."

I nodded, "I understand you clearly. Honestly I don't know how I'm still alive either."

I finished my drink and set the glass back down on the table when the ship shuddered gently. I looked out the window and saw normal stars again, so I tapped my wrist comm.

"Nav, report," I said.

 _"I brought us to a normal hyperspace route, general. Trying to get to our destination from where we were was too dangerous."_

"That makes sense. Where are we now?" I asked then.

 _"I brought us out of lightspeed just in wild space, but our coordinates are on point to a hyperspace route. We should be arriving at our destination in about an hour and a half."_

"Very well. Carry on," I said, deactivating the comm.

"Paranoid, much?" Sabine teased.

"No, just wondering what was going on. Doesn't hurt to be curious," I said.

She smirked at me, "No I suppose it doesn't."

"I didn't see much about our comm relays on the report," I said then.

"I may have forgotten that part," Sabine said sheepishly. "Our comm relays were damaged as well. The reason we haven't contacted home base yet is because the damage seemed to have affected our range. This planet we're heading to should theoretically be within suitable comm range."

I nodded, "Great."

"Also there's something else," Sabine began.

"Hm?"

"It's about the _Reclamation_ ," she said.

"You're not transferring, are you?" I asked.

"No, of course not. It's just Tenith thought it best to add something to the ventral hull; something kind of like a siege cannon."

"Siege cannon?" I asked.

"Well it's not going to be the most powerful thing on the ship," Sabine said. "It's basically just a special turbolaser that will be used for bombardment."

"Our primary cannons and artillery can do that," I said.

"Our cannons and artillery have a limited firing arc. They wouldn't be able to bombard at a closer range like the Empire did on Garel and Lothal," Sabine said. "Yes, many of our turbolasers and laser cannons built into the port and starboard sides have that range, but these cannons would also be able to cover the full underbelly of the ships."

"So no blind spot," I said.

"Exactly," Sabine confirmed.

"I like the sound of that," I said. "Give the Empire a taste of their own medicine for once, too."

Sabine grinned, "I thought you'd like that idea."

A few officers walked into the room then.

"Generals," one of them said and all of them snapped to attention.

"At ease, all of you," I said.

"We may be generals but that doesn't mean we can't talk as friends, you know," Sabine said.

"Yes, ma'am."

Sabine leaned in close to my ear, "I can see why you were annoyed with all the formalities before."

"Sorry it's just basic kicking in," one of the officers said.

"We're all officers here," I said. "Relax for a change. If it helps, first round's on me."

"Ezra, you don't have to do that," Sabine said.

"Course I do. Least I can do after scaring everybody so much," I said.

"Alright, you're the boss," Sabine said with a smile.

I bought a round for the four of us and we all drained our shot glasses.

…

"Sir, we're entering the Maridun system," a navigation operator said once I entered the bridge.

Sabine was down in her quarters, taking a nap. She's been through a lot, physically, emotionally, and of course a lot of alcohol. She could barely stand by the time we were all called up to the bridge, but it showed how much I've matured and grown since I first joined the Ghost crew. Sabine could hold her liquor pretty well since she's been places, but I've developed a strong stomach for those things. Granted I was feeling a strong buzz and couldn't really see straight, I was still talking fine. That and the Force helped me walk straight; focusing on that clears my mind so I felt pretty good.

I acknowledged the operator and looked out the window to see the blue tunnel of hyperspace turn into back to normal. The blackness of space dotted with countless stars. Just off to our port side was the planet Maridun. We don't know what, or who, is here, but it was obvious it wasn't advanced technologically.

"Comm, are we within comm range with our station?" I asked.

"I'm working on it..." the officer said before smacking the console in frustration. "Nothing, sir."

"General, we have spare parts in our cargo hold to repair some of the relay, but we will need to land on the planet before we get moving," a communication operator said.

"If that's our only option, then take us down. We don't have enough fuel to reach our station so we're marooned here until we can call for help," I said.

"Yes sir."

Slowly, we turned towards the planet and it began to grow.

…

"Landing pads deployed, touchdown in 3... 2... 1... brace for touchdown," the helmsman called out. Moments later, the ship shook as the _Resolute_ 's landing pads touched down on the grassy land.

"Repulsorlift generators are offline, engines offline. Powering down gravity generators," several console operators said. "Life support is offline, but ready. Laser cannons charged, turbolasers offline. Artillery offline. Shields are down."

"Alright," I said. "Get our repair teams on that relay."

The entire descent took a couple hours. Half an hour to actually reach the atmosphere, another 25 minutes of normal atmospheric descent, then most of the other times looking for a good place to land this thing. The ground was full of rolling hills so we had to be careful.

"General, I'm reading a bunch of life signs approaching."

"Where?"

"Everywhere," the officer said. She looked up as she said this.

"I'll take a team down there," I said. "I expect an away team to be ready by the time I get to the hangar."

"Yes sir!"

As I walked down to the hangar, I passed in front of Sabine's room and knocked.

"Sabine? Are you awake?" I asked.

The door opened a few seconds later and there was Sabine, out of her officer's uniform and back into her Mandalorian armor, but her rank insignias were pinned to her collar.

"Yeah, what's up?" she asked.

"We've landed on Maridun and we've detected several lifeforms approaching. I was on my way down to the surface with an away team to investigate," I said.

"You want me to stay here?" she asked.

"Not exactly. I was going to ask if you either wanted to come along, or supervise the comm relay repairs," I said.

"I'm not sitting in a command center while you have all the fun, Bridger. I'm coming with you," she said.

I grinned, "I figured you would."

I watched as Sabine grabbed a backpack and her helmet and we made our way down to the hangar.

"Oh hey," she said as we walked. She pulled some body armor out of her pack and strapped it onto my chest and back, even strapping parts of the armor to my biceps, forearms, and shoulders.

"I found some pieces of durasteel in the hold and brought them back to my room," she said. "And yes I made sure they weren't needed for the relay."

"I thought you were sleeping," I said.

"I was. I called in a droid to cut and mold them into armor plates," she said.

I checked out my arms and chest before looking back up at Sabine. "This looks familiar."

She grinned, "It's a durasteel replica of the armor I'm developing. It's not the prototype, just a replica."

"Got some weight to it," I stated.

"Again, durasteel. The final product should be relatively light weight. Move your arms around," she said.

I moved my arms around and barely knew the armor was even there. It was very impressive, really.

"It's like it's not even there," I said.

"Good. It's supposed to be that way. Good coverage, while keeping the movement," she said.

All this happened as we walked and we didn't slow our pace, either.

When we got to the hangar, the away team was ready.

"Phoenix home, what's the status of those lifeforms?" I asked the guys still on the bridge.

 _"They're close, but they've stopped their approach for the moment."_

"Alright everybody," I said to the away team. "Keep blasters on stun, and do not fire on anything unless attacked. Understood?"

"Yes sir!"

"Good. Let's get moving," I said. I tapped my wrist comm. "Home, drop the ramp."

The port side hangar doors opened and the boarding ramp extended out a bit, then down, continuing its extension until it touched the ground.

As soon as my boots hit the ground, they sunk slightly into the fresh mud.

It was hot out, humid even, but I'm guessing maybe it just stormed or something. The sun was just below the horizon so it was dusk.

"Sir, over there," one of my men called out. He was pointing to the tall grass in front of me.

I took a step forward.

"Ezra, be careful!" Sabine shouted.

"Yeah, I got it. Split into teams of 2 and spread out. Watch your backs," I said.

Sabine immediately ran to my side, "You said groups of two, I'm with you."

"You should write poems next," I chuckled and she smacked my shoulder.

"Ha ha, very funny," she said, but I could tell she was smiling under her helmet.

Something moved in the grass in front of us and I turned back to it.

"Sabine, stay here," I said.

"No way," she protested.

"Please? I'm sensing more to this," I said.

She hesitantly nodded and stopped following me into the grass.

"I know you're here We all do," I said calmly.

"Ezra, what are you doing?" Sabine hissed.

"Trust me," I replied before turning back out into the grass. "We're not here to cause trouble."

There was some silence before I heard a shout.

"That's what they said the last time, but our village was nearly destroyed!"

"Who's they?" I asked. I couldn't see them visually, but I could see them through the Force.

"The Republic! Who else?"

"The Republic is gone," I said.

"Lies!"

"It's true," I said.

"It's all lies! Visitors are not welcome!"

Next thing I knew, I was on the ground, by hands behind my back, held together by a well made rope, but a very sloppy knot.

"Ezra!" Sabine shouted.

There was something holding me down and when I opened my eyes, I saw a small, hairy creature with large, dark eyes glaring at me.

"Stay down," the creature growled. I heard Sabine running up from her position and she started yelling.

"Get back!"

"Sabine, don't engage!" I shouted.

"Ezra..."

"Do not engage!" I repeated.

"Fine," she growled, but I could feel her scowl on the creature next to me.

"Who are you people, and why have you come?" the creature asked.

I noticed several others like this one gathered around.

"Our communications were damaged in a battle," I began. "We needed a safe place to land while we repaired it."

"Why here?"

"It was the safest place for us. We need fuel to reach our base, but we can't get that until we repair our communications relay," I explained.

"It's true," Sabine said. "Now let him go."

"Why should I?" the creature asked.

"Let him go!" somebody else shouted.

The first creature backed off and another took its place.

"My apologies," this one said. "My name is Wag Too. I'm the chief of my village. I personally don't have problems with the Republic."

I smiled as he cut the rope and helped me sit up. "Good to know, but the Republic is long gone."

"What happened to it?" Wag Too asked.

"The Empire," Sabine muttered.

"The what?"

"The Empire was formed from the Republic. Turns out the entire Clone War was just a big show to get the Emperor in power," I explained. "Most of the Jedi didn't survive the Purge."

"I knew a few Jedi myself. I was quite fond of them," Wag Too said. "Are you a survivor of this... Purge?"

"Me? No, I'm not a survivor. My master was, however."

"That's a nice ship," Wag Too stated then, referring to the _Resolute_. "If the Republic is gone, are you part of the Empire?"

"No, we're rebels. We found this ship and rebuilt it to combat the Empire's ships," Sabine explained taking off her helmet.

"I'm sorry," I began. "Let me introduce myself. My name is Ezra Bridger and this is my friend, Sabine Wren."

"Who's that over there?" Wag Too asked, pointing behind me.

"They would be my away team. You've already heard everything from before, I assume?"

"I have. Do you all need a place to stay?" he asked.

"We have this ship. It's fully operational except for the comms," Sabine said.

"Let me take you to our village. It's not too far from here," Wag Too said.

"I don't think that's..." Sabine began but I interrupted.

"It's fine, Sabine. Can you stay here with the ship?"

"Ezra..."

"Please Sabine? I trust you more than anyone with everything, and I need you to stay here with the ship. I'll have our away team."

She bit her lip, but finally nodded. "Alright."

We split the away team in half and my group and I followed Wag Too and his people to his village.

"We must be careful. Night time is very dangerous," Wag Too said.

"Wild animals?" I asked.

"Yup."

"Fun," I muttered sarcastically.

My guys had their flashlights on so they could see where they were going.

"How much farther?" one of my guys asked.

"We're almost there," Wag Too said.

We heard a lot of growling near us and a few of my guys jumped.

"What was that?"

"Just one of those animals I spoke of," Wag Too said.

I looked around as we ran and saw a bunch of glowing yellow eyes watching us. I gripped my lightsaber in my right hand, ready to use it if I needed to.

"There it is," Wag Too called out.

Ahead of us was a bunch of lit torches and some huts. We ran into the clearing and we slowed to a walk, but one of my guys was nabbed by something that looked a lot like a vulture.

"Gah! Help me!" the soldier screamed and several of my men aimed at the creature, but they couldn't get a shot off without risking hitting him.

I jumped into the air and stabbed my lightsaber through the creature's back. It let out an ear splitting shriek before falling over, lifeless.

"That wasn't necessary, master Jedi," Wag Too said. "My people specialize in taking the Mastiff's out without killing them."

"I'm sorry, but one of my men need help," I said as I helped up my unconscious soldier.

"I should have mentioned that sooner," Wag Too said. "Again, I'm sorry."

"Do we have medical supplies?" I asked.

"I specialized in healing while my father was leader," he said. "He died a long time ago."

"I'm sorry for your loss," I said.

"Don't be. That was a long time ago," Wag Too said. "Let's get this man to one of our pods. The oil helps with the healing."

While one of Wag Too's top healers worked with my wounded soldier, Wag Too approached me and said he should be well by mid day tomorrow.

"What are these things?" I asked, referring to the pods.

"These were taken and carved out from the massive pods that grow on the large trees some few miles from here. The Jedi I met before came from that direction, but my father wanted no part in helping them. It wasn't until they mentioned one of the Jedi was dying when my father sent me to aid them."

"What were their names?" I asked. "The Jedi."

"I think one of them was named Skywalker," Wag Too named.

"Anakin Skywalker. You knew him as a Jedi?" I asked.

"I have. Do you know if he's alright?"

"Well uh... he's alive, but not himself," I said.

"What do you mean?"

"He's not a Jedi anymore..." I said bitterly. "He turned away from them. My master learned he was the key to the Jedi's near extinction."

"Oh no..."

"Anyway do you remember any others? I mean, do you know Ahsoka Tano?"

"Yes. Yes, I remember her. Is she alive?"

"I don't know, honestly. I don't think she is, but it's entirely possible," I said.

We talked for another hour before we turned in for the night.

"Tomorrow morning, I can show you guys around the land. Give you something to do while you repair your communications," Wag Too said.

"Thank you," I said before he left the pod.


	11. A New Fight

**Chapter 11**

I woke up and found I was being covered with something like a thick blanket so I jumped up and grabbed my lightsaber, but didn't activate it. Some of the Lurmen were in my pod, telling me to lay back down and stay still.

"What's going on?" I whispered.

"Men wearing white just arrived. Don't you worry, when we went to warn your friends, we found the ship was already gone. They must be hiding it somewhere around the planet."

I wanted to make sure so I asked the Lurmen if I could quickly contact them.

"I wouldn't advise it, but we'll keep an eye out for you," one of the Lurmen said.

I nodded and activated my comm on a secured channel.

" _Resolute_ do you read me?" I said quietly into the comm.

 _"Ezra? Is that you?"_

Sabine.

"Yes, it's me. I just woke up and the Lurmen explained what's going on. Where are you?"

 _"We took off, but never left the atmosphere. We moved to a different area far from where you are,_ " she said.

"Alright, stay there. Try to get into orbit on the other side of the planet. You should be safer there," I said.

 _"We'll try. Ezra, promise you'll avoid a fight."_

"Yeah, I promise. I'll call you when they're either gone, or if we need you. Also, how's that comm relay?"

 _"It's almost done, but we'll need to send droids out on the hull to get it done,"_ she said.

"So be it. We'll need reinforcements asap. What kind of ship showed up?" I asked.

One of the Lurmen warned me the stormtroopers were approaching our pod.

 _"I think an Imperial Star Destroyer. We're not ready for an open engagement but we have weapons and shields online for the time being,"_ Sabine replied.

"Good. I got to go. These guys are in the village," I said just before killing comms.

The Lurmen told me to get behind the jars in the corner and they covered it with the blanket as soon as I was behind them.

I heard the stormtroopers enter the pod and they searched the whole thing. I heard footsteps approaching my spot and I could tell the trooper was about to pull off the cover. Fortunately for me, another trooper from somewhere in the village called out to the others and he left the pod. The Lurmen pulled off the cover, letting me get out from behind everything, then they quickly put it back on as if there was nothing to hide.

"What are they doing?" I asked.

"I don't know," on of the Lurmen said. He went out to take a look, but quickly ran back inside.

"I think they found one of your men," the Lurmen said.

"Let me see," I said, peeking around the corner. Sure enough, the wounded soldier was sitting up against the wall of one of the pods, his wrists bound. I pulled my head back into the pod and tapped on my communicator. "Sabine?"

 _"I hear you. What's your status."_

"I'm going to have to break a promise," I said.

 _"Ezra?"_

"They found one of my men," I said. "I can't just let them take him."

 _"Alright, I can't argue against that. Just be careful, we'll be there as soon as we are ready. Good luck."_

I shut off my comm and one of the Lurmen gripped my wrist.

"What are you going to do?"

"I can't let the Empire take one of my men," I said.

"You can't! You wouldn't last long."

I grinned, "Trust me, I can."

I stepped out of the pod and approached the stormtroopers.

"Is there a problem here?" I asked.

"Hold it right there. That's far enough," one of the troopers said.

I stopped walking and two troopers walked towards me quickly. One of the two held up some piece of equipment and I heard a beep.

"You're coming with us, rebel scum."

I grinned, "I don't think so."

Before they could grab me, I jumped into the air and landed on top of one of the many pods. The troopers began to fire and I just dodged the bolts for a little while. It wasn't until they called for reinforcements when I finally used my lightsaber. The emerald blade surprising the troopers for a few moments, and during those moments I got to really look around. It was just around dawn.

"So, due to my past experiences, I assume you guys are going to try to blast me, correct?" I taunted.

In response, a trooper fired at me and I deflected the bolt into the ground at his feet.

"That was just a warning. Anybody else want to try again?"

Two fired simultaneously and I jumped to avoid them, but those two shots started a hole string of blaster fire.

"Alright, that's more like it," I said as I deflected several bolts, though I was still advancing.

It wasn't long before my away team joined the fight. About 4 stormtroopers remained by the time their reinforcements arrived. Four dropships, all full of stormtroopers, landed just outside the village and the Imperial soldiers all ran at me and my team, their blasters firing bolt after bolt.

I probed the troopers minds and learned they thought they could win no problem. What they didn't know, is that they are dealing with rebel soldiers that are better equipped than before. Better rifles, training, and gear. As for armor, that's still something we're changing.

The real fight was beginning when the four dropships were replaced with four Imperial gunships.

"Find cover!" I shouted just as the gunships fired on our positions. I grabbed my communicator and opened a small hatch on the bottom. A tiny tray slid out with an earpiece on it. It's just a small idea Sabine had about 2 months earlier when we had to let out guard down to talk into our wrist comms.

I fit the earpiece into my ear and pressed the tiny button on it, activating it.

"Comm check: all hands report!" I said.

One by one, my team called in through their own comms.

"All here, general."

"Good, try to hold back those troopers, but watch those gunships," I said as I turned the corner and deflected a few shots.

"We're not prepared to deal with gunships, sir!" one of my men said.

"I'll worry about those gunships, you worry about the troopers," I replied.

"Yes sir!"

I ran out of my cover and attempted to draw the gunship's attention from my men and on me. If only half worked as two of the four turned to me.

"Well two is better than none," I muttered. I found a long stick on the ground and took aim. They only hovered in front of me and held their fire. I glanced at the air intake of the closest gunship and threw the stick like a spear, using the Force to guide it straight into the intake. It did exactly as I hoped it would as the intake blew itself out and the gunship spun, out of control, into the ground. The fuel tanks must have exploded because the craft erupted into a ball of fire.

"We need to regroup," I said. "All hands, form up on me. Get to the grass line."

"Wait!" Wag Too shouted. "I know where you can go. Follow me."

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"Large trees just down this path drop the pods. It would make a better staging ground for you," Wag Too said.

"Alright, lead the way. All hands follow me!"

The Empire was still looking for us. We ran through the tall grass to get to those giant trees Wag Too mentioned. I took the time to contact Sabine.

"Sabine, do you read me?"

 _"I hear you, Ezra. What's your status?"_

"Battered and bruised, but we're alright... for now. Is that comm relay finished, yet?"

 _"It is. We were just about to contact Command to send reinforcements."_

"Good, because we're going to need some support down here," I said.

 _"I'm sending some gunships to retrieve you,"_ she said.

"Negative, not retrieve."

 _"Ezra?"_

"We can't just leave these people at the hands of the Empire. They were caught harboring rebels and they won't be spared just because they still use sticks and stones," I said. I looked to Wag Too, "No offense."

"None taken. We've tried to remain peaceful, but I knew peace wouldn't come without a fight a long time ago."

 _"Alright... We've just sent a transmission to Command and we're waiting for a response. Best I can do now is send two squads to assist you."_

"That will do for now," I said. I watched as an Imperial Star Destroyer loomed over the Lurmen village. "Spectre 6, out."

"Still using the Spectre callsign, sir?" one of my men asked.

"Can't think of anything better. I used it from the start and I'm not going to drop it," I said with a smirk.

"Yes sir."

"How's our guys?" I asked.

"Like you said, sir; beaten and bruised. We lost one man in the run."

I sighed and rubbing the back of my neck. "We'll need to mourn later. Right now we'll need to find something for cover."

"The Jedi in the past used smaller pods to form a barrier to separate my people from the Separatists. These trees drop pods almost daily so there's plenty around to use," Wag Too said.

"That will do, thank you," I said, eyeing one of the pods. I walked up to one and placed my hand on it. "Too big for you guys to move quickly."

"We have our ways," Wag Too said. "We'll collect the pods while you get them in place, master Jedi."

I nodded and began to focus on the pod in front of me.

The perimeter was finished just as the Empire began to assault our position. There were a lot of stormtroopers advancing steadily to the tree line.

"That's a lot of bucketheads," one of my boys said.

"Steady, everyone. Do not fire a shot until I give the order," I said. I was looking through some micro binoculars at the advancing force.

It was about the middle of the morning now and my team was already tired. Our reinforcements still haven't arrived, either.

"Are the traps ready?" I asked Wag Too.

"They are. Those guys will be disoriented for a few moments, but they'll recover quickly," he replied.

"Just a few moments will do," I said.

We waited in silence for a few more moments before a loud _CRACK_ was heard. Several stormtroopers collapsed as ropes entangled one row while other hunting traps took down another.

"Alright, light them up!" I shouted and all our long range rifles mowed down row after row of stormtroopers.

They were in disarray and they ran all over the place, looking for cover. But it was an open field and their white armor betrayed them in the beige grass. Many troopers just stood or crouched and tried to return fire, but the tree pods stopped the blasters. These pods were completely solid, unlike the villager's pods where a blaster shot could go right through them.

As one of my guys was forced to duck from a wall of blaster fire, another rebel jumped up and continued to fire on the Imperials. Nevertheless, despite our attempts to hold them back, there was just so many of them at this point that it was clear we were going to be overrun soon.

" _Resolute_ where's our reinforcements? We are getting hammered down here!" I shouted into the comms.

 _"We have gunships with fighter escort en route. ETA 2 minutes."_

"We might not be here in two minutes!"

A stormtrooper attempted to climb up on the pods, but I shot him down before he could get over. I threw a thermal detonator at a squad of troopers and they scrambled for cover, only to find none.

"We need air support!" one of my guys shouted.

"Just keep them back for two minutes!" I replied.

One of the rebel gunners took a shot to the shoulder so I jumped up onto the pods and attempted to deflect as many bolts as I could away from my men.

Several stormtroopers began to climb over the pods and we were forced to pull back to the other line.

"We can't hold out for much longer! Where's our support!" I shouted into the comms again.

 _"We see your location. We're on our way, ETA 10 seconds!"_

"It's about time," I said as I cut down a trooper.

I watched as X-wing fighters dropped proton bombs on father Imperial positions. The closer troops were taken out by approaching LAAT gunships and blaster fire from my team. Because we were in a tree line, the rebel soldiers inside the gunships were forced to rappel to the ground, but the whole time they were able to fire on the still advancing Imperials.

"Reinforcements incoming!" I shouted to my guys.

Several rebel soldiers hit the ground and the cables lowering them down retracted. These soldiers had short and long range blaster rifles. Some of them even had heavy repeating blasters to provide a good wall of fire.

The fighter support and the gunships forced the Imperials to fall back, allowing my troops to gather and set up better defenses. Heavy repeating blasters were mounted on the pods while other infantry rallied. Total of two squads, but they were very well equipped. What surprised me the most was the fact that Sabine was with them.

"What are you doing down here?" I asked.

"You said you needed help," she said with a smirk. "No matter how hard you argue or protest, I'm not going anywhere. Your fight is also mine. Your struggle is my struggle. That's just how it's going to be."

I shut my mouth and she grinned with triumph.

"Alright then," I said. "I'm not going to argue."

"Generals, the enemy troops seemed to have regrouped and they are beginning to advance again," a rebel marksman said.

"Snipers, use your ascension cables to get to the high branches of these trees. Call out any movement and take out anybody and anything that looks important. Heavy units, gun down anybody and anything that gets close. Everybody else hold fire until I give the word!" Sabine shouted.

I grinned, "I think it's your turn to take command, General."

"Yes, sir," she said.

I chuckled, "Same rank, remember?"

"There's different ranks of general, General," she remarked, pulling off her helmet to look at me directly.

"Then maybe we should modify our rank pins a bit to distinguish the different ranks," I suggested.

"I already have some ideas," she replied.

"Well I hate to break it to you, but now's not the time to flirt," a soldier laughed.

Sabine was blushing but I just winked at her and grinned.

"Incoming!" Somebody shouted as shells exploded around us.

"They've got light artillery," Sabine muttered.

"Snipers, do you have a visual on the mortars?" I asked through the comms.

 _"Negative, we don't see anything."_

"I'm going up," I said.

"What?" Sabine asked.

I jumped up onto the tree trunk and grabbed the hanging vines, using them to propel myself up higher, faster.

I past the lower branches and landed on a pretty sturdy high branch. I pulled out my binoculars and scanned the area. I noticed a flash off by the village and locked my eyes on it. I zoomed in on the village and I noticed four mortar crews on the outskirts of the village, all of them launching shells at different times.

"Sabine, do we have bombers on standby?"

 _"Of course, why do you ask?"_

"I found our mortar crews. The edge of the village facing us," I said.

 _"Copy that. I just called it in,"_ she said.

Moments later, I saw Y-wing bombers fly across my vision. They dropped their payload in a carpet bombing fashion and the shelling stopped.

"Good hits," I said. "We're good, thanks for the assistance."

 _"Anytime, General. We're RTB,"_ one of the pilots replied.

I made my way back down to the ground and Sabine was waiting for me, her right hand on her hip. Judging by her stance, her weight was shifted to her right leg as well.

"Well that was a good call," she said. "Too bad I didn't bring my jetpack."

I grinned, "Snooze you lose."

"Is that a challenge?"

I shrugged, "Maybe later. Right now we have a planet to defend."

Sabine laughed, "Yes sir."

The stormtroopers charged at our makeshift fort, but our heavy blasters gunned many of them down before they could get close. It was a bad tactic considering they were facing a wall of blaster fire without any cover. I spotted a few Imperial officers trying to direct the troopers in the fight, but our snipers put them out of commission. The battle raged on and off throughout the day and we were starting to run low on ammunition. It was also starting to get dark, so that was probably going to be a problem for us.

"You said you called for reinforcements before you left the _Resolute_ , correct?" I asked Sabine.

"I have. I explained everything to them concerning the fuel and the Empire's sudden appearance here," she replied.

"Perfect. How soon did they say they'd get here?"

"They didn't..."

"Oh that's just typical," I grumbled.

"Yeah, I hate that, too, but we didn't have time to send a live message," she said.

"I guess that's my fault," I said. "I kept bugging you about the reinforcements."

"No, it wasn't your fault," Sabine said.

We strolled around our position and glanced over at the wounded men lying on cots, the Lurmen doing whatever they could to get them better.

"Wag Too, your people should leave. You're only in danger here," I said.

"I'm staying no matter what you say, master Jedi. I stayed and fought with the Jedi back then, and I'm not going to leave now."

I smiled, "Thank you."

"Anything to help the Republic," he said.

"No, no, we're not the Republic," Sabine began.

"I understand, but I can tell your people want to restore it," Wag Too said.

"T-That's right, but that doesn't mean right now..." I said.

"You're equipped for it, right?"

"Not exactly. We only have one, maybe two, of our own star destroyers. The rest of our fleet consists of cruisers and frigates," Sabine said.

A scout ran up to me then and saluted. "General, it seems the enemy is halting their assault for the night, but they've set up a siege on our position. We won't be able to do much unless we break through."

"What of that Star Destroyer up there?" I asked.

"It's holding position for now. I don't think they're going to bombard our position."

"We'll need to be prepared for that if they do. Do we have any shields?" I asked.

"No, sir."

"We can try to dig underground. Gives good cover," Wag Too suggested.

"You said we're under siege now?" I asked the scout.

"Yes sir. They have us surrounded."

"What are you thinking, Ezra?" Sabine asked.

"I'm thinking we need to get out of here. Get your people digging, Wag Too. I'll have all available men working with you," I ordered.

"Right away."

"Ezra?" Sabine asked again.

"We're going to build tunnels leading far from here. To cover our tracks we'll need to blow the entrance once everyone is in the tunnels," I said. "It would be risky since there would be no way to get air, but I can always cut a hole in the dirt."

"That's a weird plan," Sabine said.

"It's the only thing we can do unless you'd rather stay here," I said.

"Alright, have it your way."

…

"Everybody in?" I called out.

Everybody nodded and I set off a controlled detonation of the tunnel entrance, sealing it off. The morning sky of Maridun disappeared behind the wall of dirt within moments. I took the lead and ignited my lightsaber.

"Everybody, lights on," Sabine ordered and all the rebel soldiers activated their lights.

"How far are your people?" I asked Wag Too.

"They should be a good way away by now, but they'll need rest."

"Understood," I said as I started running, the entire pack of Rebel soldiers and remaining Lurmen following me. The wounded were already farther down the tunnel since I wanted every available soldier to cover our escape.

We actually caught up to the Lurmen that were digging the tunnels, and I could sense everybody was tired to the point they were barely conscious. I probed the surface with the Force and gave the all clear to breach the surface. Fortunately for us we were next to a small body of water so we set up camp. The Lurmen were none too happy about leaving their village, but they did agree that this was better than being caught by the Empire. Many of my guys were swimming in the water while everyone else was sleeping.

"How's our ammunition?" I asked Sabine.

"We have enough to last another day of fighting, but that's just my guess," she said.

"Well need sentries on the perimeter," I said. "We should be able to see if anybody's coming before they see us."

"I already set up some shifts," Sabine said.

"And one more thing," I began. "You should have stayed on the ship."

"I was more help down here," Sabine said.

"I needed the one person I trust the most up there. Shared command of the ship and I was down here. Why did you give that up?"

"I..." Sabine began, but one of my guys interrupted.

"If I may, sir, she's Mandalorian, right?"

"Well, yeah..."

"It makes sense, actually," the soldier said. "Mandalorians like direct combat, they don't like missing a fight."

Sabine smirked at me, "He's got a point."

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah I guess. Get some rest. We're all going to need it."

I noticed Sabine just finished a yawn after I said that and I grinned.

"What?" she asked.

"You're tired, I can tell."

"Did you probe me?" she asked, glaring at me.

"No, I saw you yawn. I never thought I'd ever see a Mandalorian yawn," I laughed.

She punched me in the arm. "And that will likely be the last."

"Likely?"

"It _will_ be the last," she corrected. "But, I'm going to take your advice and get some rest. That being said, you should get some rest, too."

"I will. I just want to make sure everybody's alright," I said.

"Everybody's fine, Ezra. Go catch some shuteye," Sabine said.

I watched as she walked into a tent her reinforcements brought.

"We can take it from here, master Jedi," Wag Too said.

"Thank you," I said. "And I'm sorry you had to leave your village and drag you into our war."

"It's not a problem. Now go, you need to regain your energy."

I nodded and thanked him again before retiring into my own tent.


	12. The Reclamation

**Chapter 12**

"We need better armor than what we have," I complained to the Lurmen leader.

"I always thought you were wearing something underneath your uniforms," Wag Too said.

I shook my head, "My men don't have any armor, really. Keeps us quicker than the Imperials, but it comes at a cost. Sabine's been developing some new armor that's theoretically supposed to be light, yet strong."

"Kind of like my own armor, but not the same material," Sabine said.

"You see, her armor can take several blaster shots around one point and they can still fight... if they work through the pain and not get knocked out," I said.

Sabine tried to dig her elbow into my ribs, but she seemed to forget she placed some durasteel plates on my torso, so instead of hitting my actual chest, her elbow guards smacked the durasteel plates and made a loud ping.

"That felt weird," Sabine muttered as she rolled her shoulder.

"You alright?" I asked, chuckling a bit.

"I'll live," she said with a smirk.

"Anyways," I began, "we have to figure out what we need to do. I would suggest an offensive to take back your village, but I don't think we're prepared since there's an Imperial Star Destroyer hovering over it."

"They'll be using their gunships to search for us," Sabine said. "Chances are they've already found we weren't where they thought we were."

"They shouldn't find the tunnel, either. I've made sure of that," I said.

The sound of a ship coming out of hyperspace filled the air and everybody scrambled outside. My first thought was the Empire found us and sent their ship. When I looked up, I did see a star destroyer, just a very welcome sight.

 _"General Bridger, we got through to central command. They're on their way with our new sister ship."_

"That's good to hear," I replied into my earpiece.

"What's their ETA?" Sabine asked.

 _"It's going to be another day at least, but I'm sure we can last for that long. We should be mobile."_

"You guys just stay nearby," I said. "We need to figure out how to take back a certain Lurmen village."

A few hours later, there were 6 LAAT gunships lined up inside our perimeter.

"Alright, we need to load our wounded into two gunships and send them back up. Anybody that can still fight, climb aboard the rest," I said.

As I boarded one LAAT, I turned to Wag Too. "I suppose we've been trying to be the Republic. You and your people wait here and stay hidden. We'll get your village for you."

"I can't allow you to sacrifice your men for our home," Wag Too said.

I smirked at him, "It's what we do, Wag Too."

Sabine jumped in next to me and held on to the hand holds in the troop bay. Several other rebels climbed into four other gunships, including mine.

"Alright, pilot, you know the plan, lets get moving," I said.

"Yes sir," the pilot shouted back through the noise.

"Keep the doors shut, but the blast shields open," Sabine said.

The gunship doors closed, but the slits where the blast shields would be was open so we could still see outside. The gunship leaned forward as we took off. I could feel the engines working through the entire craft. There was silence in our gunship for a while.

"You've always wanted to know what it was like fighting the Clone War, right?" Sabine asked, breaking the silence.

"Well I could get used to this," I said.

"General, we are approaching the occupied village," the pilot said.

"Already?" I asked.

"It's been several minutes, Ezra," Sabine said.

"Alright, everybody load your weapons," I said. "We're going in weapons hot."

A few seconds later, the gunship let it's firepower loose on Imperial positions.

"Red light!" one of my guys shouted.

"We're taking anti aircraft fire, I'm closing blast shields," the pilot said.

The bay went dark except for the red light one of my guys talked about earlier.

All of my guys began checking their magazines and their sights, every other one of them recalibrating their blaster or straightening the sights.

The sound of flak grew louder as we approached the village and we began a shard descent.

"We're landing here. We can't get closer without risking getting shot up," the pilot said.

"Good enough," I said. "Let's get going."

The light turned green and the doors opened, all my guys jumping out of the gunships and firing into the Imperial lines. We had an impressive line of four gunships deploying all our fighting men into the field. I ignited my lightsaber and began deflecting every bolt that came close to me. Sabine was staying close, using me as cover.

"When did I become your personal shield?" I asked her, deflecting another bolt into the air.

"Just now. There's no cover out here for us except for that ridge," Sabine said.

"Then let's get up there," I said. "Everybody, get to the ridge!"

I ran all the way to the ridge, but didn't really stop there, either. I jumped into the Imperial line and began cutting down stormtroopers, occasionally using my blaster to cover my other side. Sabine appeared next to me and covered my back as our troops broke through the line and cleared the ridge. We finally had cover.

The sound of a sniper rifle cracked through the humid air and I looked up to see our four gunships circling the battlefield, our marksmen on board, shooting down on the enemy position.

I occasionally poked my head over the top of the trench and used my binoculars to guide my heavy gunners. We needed to hold this ridge until it was clear to move up. There wasn't much cover between us and the village.

"We're going to have to hold here," Sabine said to me.

I nodded, "That's what I was thinking. We should set our heavy gunners along this trench. We need to cover as much ground as possible."

Sabine ordered our heavy gunners to set up while I radioed our ship for some air support.

 _"I'll have bombers over there in 5 minutes. We'll send you two more squads to help with your assault as well,"_ Trace said through the comms.

"Be careful," I said to him. "They have anti air guns as well so your bombers will need to fly fast. As for the reinforcements, they should land behind our line, not on top of it."

 _"I know the tactics, General,"_ Trace said.

"I can only imagine what it's like for him to call a Jedi a general, again," Sabine stated.

"I bet it brings back memories," I agreed.

"Sir, we have incoming stormtroopers!" one of my spotters called out.

"Alright, everybody hold the line. Don't let them get on top of us!" I shouted.

Sabine ordered our heavy gunners to fire at will and immediately, all our heavy repeating blasters launched a devastating wall of automatic blaster fire, forcing the stormtroopers to hide in the grass.

I remembered when Rex switched our blaster colors to blue, but I guess these guys didn't get their packages.

The field was filled with the crossfire of red bolts, until our normal infantry opened fire, mixing in their blue shots in with the sea of red.

Several stormtroopers fell to our munitions, but since we were dug into their trenches, they couldn't hit us.

It felt like hours passed before I herd the sound of incoming bombers and my guys cheered as the Imperial position was cleared. Two LAAT gunships landed a couple hundred meters from our trench and two fresh squads of rebel infantry ran up to us. I noticed these two squads were different. Of course every squad has a squad leader, but these guys also had one medic per squad, a heavy rifleman, and standard infantry. By the looks of it, the squad leader and the standard guy had the same blasters.

"This is a new setup," Sabine said. She had taken her helmet off and I noticed she was grinning.

"We received a new transmission from Command," one of the squad leaders explained excitedly. "They transmitted a new squad order. Of course not all squads would be like this."

"We'll need to be briefed on this after this battle," Sabine said.

"I agree," I said. "As much as I'd like to hear all of it now, it has to wait."

"Yes sir. Just tell us where to go and what to do," the squad leaders said.

"I'm having these heavy gunners stay here to provide support in case we need to fall back to this position," I said, briefing our new troops. "We're about to make a push up to the village as soon as our bombers go RTB."

As if that a some sort of cue, the bombers reported through comms they were out of ammo and bingo on fuel and going RTB.

"Good timing," Sabine muttered.

"Alright, let's get going. Everybody ready?"

I scanned all my troops and they all cheered and nodded. They definitely had good moral, which is exactly what we ran out of since Yavin.

"Separate into two groups. Team 1 on me, Team 2 on Sabine," I said.

Fortunately, we had an even number of troops, which is what I like to see. Makes everything nice and easy to split. My group had a total of 12 men and Sabine had another 12. Wasn't much, but it was good enough. Our four heavy gunners said they'll be waiting for covering fire if the need came.

The gunships that were circling the battlefield then landed 50 yards from us and dropped off our snipers.

"Perfect timing," Sabine said. "We'll need snipers up here, too."

"We need to go, now," I said to Sabine.

She nodded and put her helmet back on.

"Bravo squad, follow me!" Sabine shouted as she started running down the ridge, her team following her.

"If that's how it's going to be," I muttered.

"Sir?" one of my guys asked.

"I'm alright. Let's move!"

My team let out our battle cry and followed me down the ridge as well.

"Sabine, take your team down the right flank. I'll go down the left!" I shouted into my earpiece.

"Copy," she replied.

We saw several red dots appear from the village and I shouted for my men to keep moving. Fortunately, the stormtroopers didn't really have good aim at this moment. Unfortunately, they still managed to hit a few of my men. Again, fortunately, they were only wounded. I'd rather they're wounded than dead.

I radioed our fire team on the ridge to open up on the village and red blaster bolts flew over our heads and into Imperial positions.

We managed to get to one of the pods on the outer perimeter of the village and my team spread out to nearby pods, some of them even going prone in the grass.

 _"Ezra, they seem to have set up a command center in the middle of the village,"_ Sabine reported through the comms.

"Then that's our objective," I replied. "Everybody spread out. We're forcing our way to the center."

"Incoming ISD, general!" one of my spotters shouted. "Bearing 280!"

"The Empire wouldn't risk firing on their own men," I said.

 _"No, but they would send reinforcements,"_ Sabine said.

I cursed and called in anti warship support, and added that I didn't care if we brought in our Star Destroyer or more bomber support.

We pushed the Imperial's back to the center of the village and even cleared their makeshift command post. The remaining Imperials fell back to a staging point not far from the village perimeter so I set sentries on the perimeter under orders to maintain surveillance while staying behind cover. Rebel engineers that arrived with our reinforcements also began building barricades for cover since the pods were shot up so much they weren't reliable for and sort of cover anymore. I had two assault squads on different corners of the village until our defense squad moved up. The ISD stopped its approach and hovered over the Imperial staging area. We could see shuttles and gunships headed to and from the surface, likely full of fresh troops and supplies.

"We're going to need reinforcements, again," Sabine said.

"How's the right flank?" I asked.

"North side is secured. I had my team set up traps along that side. How's the left flank?"

"Same, but I haven't set traps," I replied.

Sabine smiled, "You didn't have to send one of your squads to cover my flank, you know."

I only shrugged as we heard more gunships approaching from the east. Sabine and I walked to the eastern side of the village and deployed a beacon to show the gunship pilots where to deploy our forces.

"Did we have active walkers in the _Resolute_?" I asked Sabine.

"AT-TE walkers are no good against Imperial AT-ATs. We'll need to talk with Tenith when we get back home and figure out what we can get," she replied.

The LAATs landed around the deployment beacon and fresh reinforcements stepped out.

Before the pilots could RTB, I sent them to recover the wounded rebels between the ridge and the village.

 _"We're holding position a few kilometers away from your position. We can see the ISD over there and no doubt they can see us,_ " Trace said through the holodisk.

"Are the long range artillery cannons in range?" Sabine asked him.

" _Well, I guess, but I don't know how much damage they can dish out since we are in atmosphere_ ," Trace said

"It shouldn't matter. Just target the ISD, but do not fire until we tell you to," I said.

" _Yes sir._ "

We closed the channel and turned back to the western flank of the village. Our engineers finished building cover for our troops all throughout the village, the former Imperial command post also had better fortifications than it had when we took back control of the village.

Everything was quiet for the moment, but I could tell something big was coming. I knew Sabine could feel it, too.

"We need AT units to set up," I said. "They're going to send in armored battalions to break our lines."

Sabine nodded, "I'll get them ready."

I watched her run towards the supply crates we set up near the eastern side of the village and heard her call out for anti armored units. Several soldiers ran up and grabbed their rocket launchers and other anti armored equipment as well as munitions. They then ran past me straight for the western side of the village and loaded their launchers. A couple mortar teams were stationed on the east just over the ridge, or so I have been told.

"We really need to see what we can do about armored warfare," I muttered to myself. We didn't really have anything effective against AT-ATs so we needed to find something and fast.

"Sir! Enemy armor inbound!" somebody shouted.

I looked ahead and saw a few Imperial tanks appear in the distance. A bunch of AT-ST walkers and about five AT-ATs led a group of armored troop transports and they were approaching rather quickly.

"They just had to throw in their AT-ATs so soon," I muttered.

"Tell me about it," Sabine replied as she walked up to me.

"Are they ready?" I asked her.

"They are, but the sight of those AT-ATs are making our lines very unsteady," she said.

"I was afraid of that. There's no good place to flank those AT-ATs, either."

"We'll definitely need air support," Sabine said.

I agreed and called in for air support on the AT-ATs, but all to suddenly, things took a turn for the worst.

The ISD suddenly appeared directly in front of us in perfect firing position and I noticed the blood was gone from Sabine's face.

We all knew what they were going to do and we braced for the worst...

But it never came for us.

Before the ISD could fire its main cannons, we saw two blue beams crash against the ISD along with a barrage of heavy artillery fire from our very own Star Destroyer.

I turned around and watched the _Resolute_ fire everything it had.

"How are they firing the primary cannon while firing the artillery?" I asked.

"They must have set both of them ready. The artillery beams didn't hit at their full power, otherwise the _Resolute_ would be without shields and weapons. No power conduits or reactors could generate that kind of power in a ship that size. Not even the Death Star could fire off its main laser cannon very quickly," Sabine explained, but she seemed just as amazed.

"So basically the main beam artillery is set at equal strength as our normal artillery?"

"Put plainly, yes," Sabine said. "Sorry about that."

I grinned as we watched the ISD attempt to return fire at our own SD, but they were out of range.

"Fighters bearing 90! We have air support!"

Several wings of bombers and fighters approached our airspace and head straight for the Imperial forces on the ground. Countless TIEs flew from the ISD hangar bay, but several of them were shot down before they could do anything significant. While our fighter wings engaged the TIEs, the Y-wings bombed the Imperial ground forces and the ground even shook at our feet at the power of the attack.

"Like Rex said, outdated but still effective," Sabine said with a grin.

 _"This is Strike team Omega! We are RTB. Clean them up down their, generals!"_

The bombers flew over our heads after their bombing run and headed back to our ship and I ran to the western flank, Sabine right behind me.

I looked through my binoculars and saw the AT-ATs, several transports, and a few AT-STs burning on the ground.

"Alright!" I exclaimed. "Sabine, wait for them to come to us or we go to them?"

"Well they still have AT-STs up and walking, but not nearly as much as they used to," she replied. "Our launchers can lock on to them so if we take those out now, we can charge the enemy position."

"Make it happen," I ordered.

Several missiles crashed into the remaining AT-STs and made it possible for us to charge on the enemy position. By now the two star destroyers had risen in altitude and were fighting it out several clicks over our heads.

Sabine and I led the official charge on the remaining Imperial troops and met a fierce resistance, but we managed to break through their lines and send them into disarray.

After a while, the only thing we had to worry about was the ISD that was still engaged in fierce combat with our own star destroyer. It was just now we got to see the size comparison between these two warships and I glanced over at Sabine.

"Is it just me or is our ship just a little bigger than the Empire's?"

She laughed, but didn't answer directly.

We heard the sound of another ship appearing from lightspeed and we saw the _Reclamation_ take position not far from the Imperial Star Destroyer and even start to light up all it's port cannons on the target. We could feel the hits even from the ground.

Several gunships approached our position from the _Reclamation_ and fresh troops and supplies were deployed.

…

About two days had passed since the major engagement and the Lurmen people had already rebuilt their village in the spot we were camped out. Wag Too explained that after his father died, he decided to move the village elsewhere to prevent the Separatists from finding them again. Since the Separatists are no more, they agreed to keep moving on to keep the Empire from finding them. Wag Too also allowed us to build a base on the planet to monitor them and defend them in the event the Empire returns.

Bastian was commanding the _Reclaimation_ as Admiral of the Rebel fleet. Hera only wanted to be known as Fleet Admiral, though she still holds the status of Commander in Chief, or so I have heard.

"This was an incredible victory," Bastian said. He was meeting with us on the surface while we waited for the _Resolute_ to be refueled.

"I'm surprised we held up for as long as we did in our condition," Sabine said. "I think that was the same Star Destroyer that caught us off guard before."

"How's things back at base?" I asked Bastian.

"Things couldn't be better. Word is the Kuat people caught wind about our secret heist on their world just recently and there's an imminent civil war between those guys," he said. "Those who wish to help us sent a transmission for help, but without our two best ships it wouldn't work."

"Well with our fleet as it is it wouldn't last too long," Sabine said. "Not against concentrated fire."

"But what about Mandalore?" I asked.

"I don't know, Ezra," Sabine said. "Our fleet should be a priority, but my people..."

"Your family is still safe back at base," Bastian said.

"That's what I'm putting into consideration," Sabine said. "My family is safe so we could wait a while until we get a suitable fleet. Can you share the details on Kuat?"

"Well there's no open conflict, but there's been tension. The half that's chosen to fight with us have secretly begun working double shifts to get some extra ships to us. Since the _Arquitens_ cruiser is not really used by the Empire anymore, they've started building those secretly. Whenever the Empire isn't looking, they send the completed vessels into an unmanned jump into wild space, but they also program a beacon under our frequencies so we can pick them up."

"Sounds very risky," I said.

"It is, but we've collected 4 new cruisers. Two of them were actually fully manned with a full complement of ship builders. The other two was full of resources for ships at our station. Last I heard, as an Admiral, Tenith showed them the designs of the _Avenger_ -class. They might be considering going back to capital ship construction, starting with that," Bastian explained.

"Wouldn't the Empire know that many of them are missing?" Sabine asked.

"They know there are defectors, but they can't do anything against their main fleet building company," Bastian replied.

"It's almost a perfect crime," Sabine said.

"Exactly. Nobody really knows how many of them are defectors or loyalists, and even the Imperial scare tactics aren't making them budge. For ship builders they are also great at hiding things from the wrong hands. I honestly don't think they liked the Empire from the start, either," Bastian said.

"Well the sooner we can get a stronger fleet the better," I said.

"Then there's that Death Star to worry about," Sabine said.

"You all know the weakness already, but there's no doubt they have that heavily protected now," Bastian said.

"So trying to hit the exhaust port probably wouldn't work this time," Sabine said.

"It didn't last time," I said bitterly.

"You know what I mean," Sabine said, rolling her eyes.

"So how would we take it down?" I asked.

"We need to figure that out. Then again, I'm not part of Central Command, though you two are," Bastian said.

"Sometimes it doesn't feel like it," Sabine muttered and I nodded.

"I know what that's like," Bastian said. "You guys should be ready to go in a couple hours. We're not exactly in the ideal spot to refuel a warship."

"Thanks again for the assistance," Sabine said.

Bastian smiled and nodded before heading back to his shuttle for his ship. Sabine and I walked near our own ship, which has landed for refueling and repairs.

Several gunships flew over our heads to the desired area to build a base, though it wouldn't be the entire Rebellion's safe haven. We should have enough personnel to run this new outpost since it's going to start off relatively small.


	13. Discipline

**Chapter 13**

A few hours later, we were on our way back to our home base, in a good formation with a sister ship for the first time since before Yavin. It felt good to have two ships of the same class fighting side by side again.

Sabine and I were reclining in the officer's club, staring at the _Reclamation_ through the windows. It was exactly like our own ship, but I noticed something different near the ventral hangar.

"Those look like hardpoints for some kind of turbolasers," Sabine said.

"How can you tell?" I asked.

"I'm only guessing. Besides, I thought I told you we were going to install some new turbolasers," she replied.

"Oh... right. I don't remember seeing hardpoints on our ship, though."

"That's because we didn't think about it until after _Resolute_ was built. I think Tenith is going to reconstruct the ventral hull around the hangar for those new guns, so we'll likely be out of action for another few weeks at best."

I sat back in my seat and groaned.

"Again? We do one mission and we're out for a month before we're deployed again!" I complained.

"Well we don't exactly have a large group or amount of ships," Sabine reminded me.

"Yeah, I know," I grumbled.

"Remember what Bastian said, though? We're getting new ships faster than before now that many Kuat engineers defected to our cause. Many even coming to our station to work."

"Well how long would that last? We can't exactly pay them," I said.

"Not yet, anyway," Sabine said.

"We'll still need to disrupt Imperial shipbuilding, too," I said.

"That might be too big of an operation right now. No doubt an Imperial war fleet is stationed there right now, preventing anything that might support us from leaving," Sabine said.

"I doubt an entire battle fleet is there. Maybe just a few star destroyers," I said. "They have a big fleet, yes, but the galaxy is bigger. They can't exactly be everywhere at once. Sending a full fleet there would be stretching them a little thin, don't you think?"

She nodded, "You have a point there. Then again, they could have the Death Star there."

"I don't know about you two, but I want that big ball of genocide to... I don't know, be done for!" one of our bridge officers grumbled.

"Don't we all," Sabine said.

I started thinking deeply about the Death Star and any possible solutions to destroying it. I remembered I felt a large amount of Kyber crystals near its core just before it fired.

"Sabine..." I began. "Before it fired on Yavin, I felt a strong connection through the Force. If that thing is powered by Kyber crystals, we could try to destabilize the core."

"Ezra, are you suggesting infiltrating the Death Star?" she asked.

"It's probably the only way to get rid of it. The exhaust port is likely more heavily defended since Yavin so that's no longer an option."

"Ezra..."

"We've infiltrated Imperial complexes before. Why is the Death Star different?"

"We tried infiltrating it, but we never got close to it. Don't you remember that?" she asked me.

"Sir, what you are thinking is nothing but suicide. With all due respect, sir," our nav officer said.

I slammed my fist into the table, "I know! But I'd rather do something about it than sit around and think all day!"

"Ezra... we should save this for the rest of Command," Sabine suggested calmly.

I sighed, heavily. "Hera's never going to agree with it."

Sabine was about to say something, but I continued.

"She'll never launch an offensive against the Death Star," I muttered.

"Ezra, we're not ready for it," Sabine said, her voice still calm.

"I should... probably go," the nav officer said.

Sabine looked to the officer and nodded. "It's probably best," she said quietly to him.

I heard the door open and close as the officer left and I angrily chucked my glass into the wall, shattering it into a million little pieces.

"Ezra, calm down," Sabine said, keeping her hands up towards me.

"I'm sorry," I muttered.

I collapsed into the wall and slid to the floor. I wanted that battle station gone. We all did.

Sabine knelt in front of me and lifted my head to face her.

"It's alright. We all want that thing destroyed. Sending anybody to go infiltrate it is suicide, though. We need to keep building and think things through," she said. Her voice was soothing and calm, though I could sense it was taking all of her strength to keep it from breaking.

"If we keep building at this current rate, we'll get nowhere," I said, realization hitting me like a ship at lightspeed would hit a planet. It was killing me to know this.

Sabine didn't say anything to that.

"Sabine... I'm sorry," I said again. "You're right. Nobody normal could infiltrate that battle station."

Sabine tensed, "I didn't say that!"

"We could. We're not like everybody else," I said. "If anybody can do it, we can."

"And if we can't?" she asked me. I could see tears welling up in her eyes.

"I'm not afraid to do this," I said firmly.

Sabine still held my face in a gentle embrace, but she was starting to falter.

"Ezra, the rebellion won't survive without us," she said.

"It won't survive anyway if that damn battle station is out there looking for us as we speak!" I shouted.

Sabine stood up and took a couple steps back, shock in her eyes.

I stood up. "I hate to admit that, but you know it's true."

Sabine looked down at her boots.

"I..."

"Sabine, if we don't get rid of that thing fast, one way or another, there'll be another repeat of Yavin. I don't want that to happen, even if it costs me my life. I don't need the Force to know that."

Sabine stayed quiet.

"I'll even do it myself if I have to," I added.

Sabine's eyes shot up to look at me. In a blink of an eye, I was pinned to the wall, Sabine glaring at me with a fire in her eyes.

"Don't you dare!" she growled. "Don't even think of going alone!"

"Sabine..." I gasped.

Her face was centimeters from mine.

I could feel her breathing, hot and heavy, on my face.

"If I lost you," she began, her voice calmer than before, "I wouldn't forgive myself."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"If anything, I'm going with you," she said.

I could tell she forced that part out.

"Sabine, no," I said.

"I don't care! I wouldn't be myself without you!"

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"Ezra... You've been with me and everybody else since the very beginning. I can't even imagine my life without you," she said.

"Nobody can," she added quickly.

She backed up, finally, and gave me breathing room. I wasn't pinned to the wall anymore.

"I can say the same for you, Sabine," I said.

…

 _"Resolute, you are cleared for docking. Proceed to Bay 4, maneuvering thrusters, only. Welcome home."_

"Affirmative, Tower. Good to be home," I said into the comms. "Helm, you know what to do."

"Yes sir!"

The helmsman maneuvered the _Resolute_ into hangar bay 4 for more thorough repairs and modifications. As soon as the docking clamps closed down on the ship, I ordered everybody to get some much needed rest.

"We all need it after all this," I added before leaving the bridge.

Sabine and I haven't said a word to each other for the rest of the trip back. She just asked for permission to excuse herself and left without another word. My guess is she went back to her quarters to calm down. She seemed furious with me again.

The shuttle that took me to floor level of the hangar landed right next to a group of engineers waiting to be sent up to the ship's hull. There were a lot of large holes burned into the armor, all thanks to that ISD. There wasn't a single module on my ship that didn't have at least a little damage, so these engineers were going to be pretty busy for a while. I think they were more happy to see good damage this time since they've done almost nothing but paperwork for too long.

"Have fun with the repairs," I said, more as a joke.

"Sir, we will," one of them said; all of them grinning.

They were seriously going to have fun with the repairs and I knew it. I chuckled as I heard a loud whoop from the closing shuttle doors before they lifted off to the outer hull.

"General."

I turned to see Bastian running up to meet me.

"Admiral," I said, noticing the official rank pins. I also noted that Hera set them exactly like Sabine arranged our General pins, only Bastian's were blue instead of red.

"Turns out, Hera's been busy with rank pins again. She's giving you and Sabine five blue pins, plus 4 gold pins," Bastian said as we walked out of the hangar.

"Seriously?" I asked.

"Apparently, since your both commanding on land and space, after all."

"I suppose that's alright. I'm guessing the gold pins are for..."

Bastian smiled, "Members of Central, I think."

I raised an eyebrow, "Well now she's just being... I don't know."

"A rebel leader?"

I chuckled, "No, she's always been that."

"Where's Sabine, by the way? I never see you without her nearby."

"Well uh..." I began, rubbing the back of my neck. "Me and her kind of had an... argument on the way back."

Bastian stared at me. "No... You and her... had a fight?"

"It's a long story," I said. I didn't want to get into details.

"Well, you're the boss. I'll consider that as an order," Bastian said.

"Really?" I asked him.

"Well it's not really my business to know what you two do, so I won't push into it," he replied.

"I can try to explain later," I offered, but he raised his hand.

"No need. If you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to," Bastian said.

"Actually I have to talk about it. It's about the Alliance and... what we're up against," I said.

"You mean the Death Star?"

I nodded, "I want to infiltrate it and knock out their main cannon."

"Ezra, I heard what happened the last time rebels tried to infiltrate it. I don't have to say how it went," Bastian said.

"Sabine doesn't want me to try, but also doesn't want me to go alone. I can't let her do that," I said.

"Ezra, its her choice. She's the same rank as you so there's not much you can do," Bastian explained.

"I know," I muttered. "But... sometimes I get the feeling like she doesn't want that rank anymore. She's always following under my command as if she wasn't an equally ranked officer."

"Now that is something you two need to talk about by yourselves," Bastian said.

I nodded.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, sir, I have some paperwork to fill out for my ship," Bastian said as he saluted me. I dismissed him with a salute as well and we parted ways; him back to the hangars and me to the command center.

A little while later, I found myself talking with Hera and the rest of Central Command. Sabine was there, too, but she wasn't saying much. She just sat on a bench twirling... I think it's a pen, between her fingers.

I explained what I wanted to do and everything else I told Sabine back on our return trip. She was obviously ignoring the conversation, if you could call it that. Hera, of course, turned down my idea. Much to my surprise, Rex agreed with Hera, though I could sense he wanted the same thing I wanted.

Countess Wren, who recently became part of our Command, also disagreed.

Kanan was the only one to agree with me, and Sabine said she wanted to join me with the operation.

As I expected that threw everybody into a big debate. It was three on three, but I stated I didn't want Sabine to be there since my chances of leaving alive weren't any better than the rebels before.

Sabine got in my face again, and I could sense Ursa tense a bit at our closeness.

"Ezra, as much as we want it destroyed, we can't do something like that again. I wish I could support with this, but I can't," Rex said.

"We've lost too many people to that battle station," Hera began, but I interrupted her.

"We'll lose a lot more if we don't do this!"

"How to you propose that we get inside?" Ursa asked me.

"Steal an Imperial shuttle, maybe. I don't know!"

"That's the only way on, pretty much," Sabine said.

"I'm not going to risk two of my best officers..."

"One," I interrupted again. "Like I said before, I don't want Sabine to come with me on this one."

"Ezra, that's my decision! If I want to join you, then I will," Sabine protested.

"I agree with Bridger," Ursa said.

"Of course you do, mother," Sabine muttered.

"Sabine," Ursa began. "Ezra knows very well the risks and he doesn't want you to..."

"Die? I know that already and he's made it perfectly clear to me!" Sabine snapped. "But that doesn't change my mind! I'd rather die by his side than without him!"

That shut everybody up, even me.

"So you're devoting your life to him," Ursa stated.

Well, I couldn't tell if that was supposed to be a question or a statement.

"Maybe I am, so what?" she said, but I could sense a twinge of nervousness from her; as if she didn't mean to say those exact words.

"Sabine, maybe we should talk privately," Ursa suggested.

"Mother," Sabine began to complain, but Ursa wouldn't hear it.

Everybody watched the two Mandalorians leave the room, but that didn't mean our own conversation was finished.

"We can't stress this enough, Ezra," Hera began. "We can't risk anybody else to infiltrating the Death Star. There's no longer a debate on this."

"I think we already had a vote on what to do," I grumbled.

"Not officially, no," Hera replied.

"I say we don't. Not yet anyway," Rex said, speaking in favor of Hera's side.

"I don't want to risk anything else, either, but I also agree with Ezra," Kanan said. "I pass."

"We already know Sabine votes in Ezra's favor," Hera said. "So we're tied."

"Bridger has three to two, actually," the Countess said as she and Sabine returned. Sabine was hiding it, but I could tell she was very upset with everybody in the room, including me. However, she still stood close to me.

"I may not know exactly what's happening," Trace said, "But I think Hera's right. I've seen forbidden footage of Yavin IV from a survivor there. I didn't know the guy personally, especially since the defeat was made public."

"That doesn't help, but thank you for the support," Hera said grimly.

"So we're tied again," Ursa said.

"You don't sound very concerned with that," Kanan noted.

"I passed my vote," Ursa said.

"Then how are we tied in votes?" Hera asked.

"Tristan," the Countess replied simply. "He may not be officially part of Central command, but he wanted to make it known he supports Ezra."

"So technically speaking, that doesn't count as an official vote," Rex said. "That being said, Hera's order stands."

An officer approached Hera and whispered something in her ear.

"Thank you," she said to the officer. "We'll discuss this more later on. You're all dismissed."

Sabine pounded her fist into the table before grabbing my wrist and almost literally dragged me out of the room.

"Sabine," I began, but she interrupted me.

"I don't want to talk about it," she said.

"Then where are we going?" I asked.

"We agreed you were going to help me with my armor project," she replied.

"Oh... right," I said quietly. "I just thought you were too upset with me."

"I'm more upset with everybody in there than with you at the moment," she said.

We made it to her quarters and she immediately let go of my arm and jogged over to something in the corner. She pulled off the sheet and I received my first look of the prototype armor, resting on the armor stand.

I approached it and inspected every armor plate.

"I modeled this in your size, actually," Sabine confessed. "It was unintentional, but I didn't want to take any other measurements on anybody else."

"Fair enough," I said.

"Try it on," she said.

"Am I going to need to wear the body suit?" I asked.

Sabine nodded, "Yes, actually. I'll um... be in the other room. Just shout when you're finished putting on the suit."

I nodded and watched as she quickly ran into the next room, shutting the door behind her.

I stripped off my uniform and began putting on the suit. It was actually different than I thought it would be. The body glove was separated to be more like our normal clothes: pants and shirt.

I finished getting the suit on and called Sabine back into the room.

"So, how does that feel?" she asked me after she returned.

I rolled my arms and bent my knees before nodding. "Feels great."

"Good. I'll help you get the armor on," she said as she approached the armor stand. She grabbed the chestplate and was about to clip it on when she suddenly froze.

"What?" I asked.

"It's... it's nothing, really," she stammered as she finished clipping the chest piece on. She strapped on the back piece and the shoulder guards, then said the arm and leg pieces can be easily placed by the wearer. I first covered my arms, then began covering my legs with the armor pieces. As I worked on my right leg, I felt some armor being pressed to my left. I saw Sabine helping me get every last piece of armor on before she finally stood up and inspected the armor.

"I don't know for sure..." she mumbled.

I spread my arms out and spun in place. Sabine told me to roll my arms and move around the room, which I did.

"It's very light," I said.

"I would test the strength of the armor, but I don't want to risk killing you without actually knowing what would happen," Sabine said. "I have the plates designed to be tough with physical impacts and energy impacts."

"In Basic?" I asked.

"Theoretically I want it to be more protective than the Imperial armor. Durability is better, and theoretically it should also help disperse blaster fire across the overall surface."

"So, like you said before, a lot like your armor," I recalled.

"Like my armor, but drifting more on the clone base," she said.

I looked down at myself and saw the smooth, ever so slightly curved surface of the chest plate. It's literally built to match my entire upper body.

"Haar'chak, I almost forgot," she groaned.

"What?" I asked.

She retreated to a far corner of the room and picked something off the desk. She then approached me and jammed something between the two pieces from my chest and abdomen and I heard something click.

"What are you doing?" I asked her.

She removed the tool and threw it over her shoulder, taking a step back as well. "Try moving again. Like... twist your body."

I did as she told me to do and noticed everything seemed a lot easier. I never really noticed how difficult it was for me to move before she did that.

"It's a lot easier. How did you..."

"Like I said, it's only a prototype," she said. "Those two pieces like to get stuck sometimes."

"Okay then," I said. "Well how do you plan to fix that?"

"Don't know, but I'll figure it out. Let's get this to the firing range," she said.

…

Another shot was absorbed by the armor and everybody that's a member of Central watched in amazement as the armor was shown to be completely intact.

"Lots of burns, of course," Tenith began. "Internal temperatures are high, but still well within physical operation."

"That made no sense," I muttered.

Pieces of the armor was lying on the table, all of them covered in burns.

"Yeah, by the looks of it this armor could take a few shots and our guys could keep running," Tenith said.

"We have some dummies over there. Constructed for accurate tests against a real soldier," Hera stated.

"Good idea," Sabine said as she had the dummies brought up.

"It's a good thing we have a spare," Tenith said as he brought some more armor, exactly like the one we shot up, to the stands.

After we strapped the armor to the flesh-like dummies, Sabine continued to fire on every piece of armor on the target. Sensors relayed information immediately and, judging by the look on Sabine's face, was exactly what she wanted to see.

"It worked perfectly!" she exclaimed.

"Well, Sabine," Hera began. "If everything checked out, we should start production within the next day or two."

Sabine had explained her expectations and goals for this armor. One expectation being our guys being able to take a couple shots and keep going. The information from the dummies showed that the estimated amount of shots hitting the armor wouldn't be fatal. Of course, no armor is invincible as after about 3 total hits to a general spot of the armor, it would start to burn through and would generally be fatal, if the shot is accurate enough that is.

 **A/N: If that didn't make sense, simply put, the armor can take a total of 2 shots in one general area of the armor with the wearing being generally alright, but after the third shot in the same area, that wearer could be killed.**

I could sense Sabine was very excited and happy with the results.

"That was easy," I said to her as everybody filtered out of the room.

"That actually wasn't easy. I never mentioned this, but this isn't really the first prototype. I've tested several others in private, except for this one set," she said.

"You're just keeping a lot of stuff from me, aren't you?"

"Well this entire project was supposed to be classified," she remarked. "Even to you."

I smirked at her, "Was it, now?"

Sabine stuck her tongue out at me for a second before turning her attention to some of the burnt pieces of the armor.

"So now what?" I asked.

"I'm going to stay here and clean up this armor. Any parts that have severe burns or holes will need to be melted and forged back into armor," she replied.

"How long will that take?"

"I don't know exactly. Maybe the rest of the day," she said.

"You want some help?" I asked her then.

She shook her head, "No, I can get some droids to help me."

"Why not get the droids to do everything for you?"

Sabine turned around and stepped close to me. She dug her index finger into my shoulder.

"It's my armor we're talking about, buster," she said. "It's just like the Ghost with regular engineers."

I raised my hand in surrender, "Fair enough." I laughed.

"Hey, Ezra!"

I turned and saw Wedge and Bastian standing by the doorway.

"We can talk later," Sabine said. "Where you headed?"

"I think dinner," I replied. "You sure you don't want to come with us?" I asked, turning back to Sabine.

"Go on ahead. We can catch up later," Sabine said.

"What do we have to catch up on?" I asked.

Sabine rolled her eyes, but she was smiling.

"Just go," she said as she shoved me towards the door.

"Ezra, you coming or not?" Bastian asked.

"Yeah, I'm coming!" I replied.

I jogged over to them and we walked to the mess hall.

…

"So how was the armor test?" Bastian asked me as we were filling our trays of food, keeping his voice low so others couldn't eavesdrop on the classified project.

I realized a bunch of information and projects have been classified lately, but with all that's happened, it's understandable. Then again, I could just be saying that because I have access to said classified documents.

"A complete success," I replied. "Everything met Sabine's expectations. Pretty soon all our soldiers should be able to take a hit and survive, all while staying relatively light and mobile."

Bastian grinned, "That's good to hear."

"I don't suppose pilots would get that, would we?" Wedge asked.

I thought about it for a moment.

"I don't think so. This is for our standard infantry, I think," I replied.

We finished filling our plates and sat down at our usual table. As usual, we just talked, a few officers walking by here and there, saying hi or handing me reports of everything else that's going on around the station. One particular report had my interest.

"That one from Maridun?" Bastian asked.

I nodded as I opened the file and read through the report, eating another piece of a Meiloorun.

A few moments passed as I finished reading the report and set it down.

"What is it?" Wedge asked.

"Things are quiet," I sighed with relief. "The Empire never returned and we were able to finish constructing our outpost."

"That's really good to hear," Bastian said.

"It is," I agreed.

Our peaceful dinner was then interrupted by a bunch of loud mouth teenagers, storming into the mess hall and just being really loud and annoying.

"Did you hear what he was saying?" one of them asked his friends.

"I don't know," another replied. "He makes all of this sound so serious!"

They were talking bad about somebody, most likely Rex. He's one of the most serious men in the entire galaxy when it comes to training.

I watched as a security guard approached them and ordered them to quiet down.

"It's a mess hall, not a library!" the lead loud mouth talked back.

"Stupid security. They know nothing."

I stood up and straightened my uniform and approached the group, which was barely being contained by several other guards.

"Is there a problem here?" I asked the first guard.

"New recruits. Nothing out of the ordinary, sir," the guard replied.

"Sir? Who's this chump?" the lead loud mouth laughed, referring to me.

"Guards, step aside for a moment, if you will," I said calmly.

The guards stepped to the side and made some room for me. These new recruits were a bit smaller than me, except for their leader. He was actually taller and buffer, but that didn't mean he was stronger.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Ezra Bridger. And you are?"

"None of your business," he replied.

"Are you sure? Because everybody here knows each other by name. Doesn't hurt to have yours," I said. I remembered my training and kept calm.

"I'm not telling you anything," the big guy said.

"Fair enough. I'm just going to call you Loud Mouth from now on," I said. I turned to the guards, "How does Private Loud Mouth sound to you guys? Does it have a good ring to it?"

"What did you call me?"

I turned back to Loud Mouth. "If it doesn't then I could think of something else."

Loud Mouth was gritting his teeth, but Sabine stepped between me and him.

"Can you do me a favor and just get out of here? I'd hate for Central Command to get on our backs because of this," she said.

Loud Mouth just took a step back, glaring at me.

"Fine," he growled. "Let's go guys."

Loud Mouth and his group left the mess hall and everybody returned to their normal chatter.

"I thought you were going to be busy for the rest of the day," I said to Sabine as we walked back to my table.

"Well I figured I should get something to eat first," she said with a smile.

…

The next day, Hera was briefing me and Sabine on that squad's routine for the day.

"He needs to get in line with everyone else," Hera said. "We can't have people like him working on the front lines. Ezra, I want you and Sabine to help Rex on shooting practice. From what I hear they're the most disrespectful there. They even put a bunch of holes in the ceiling of the shooting range."

"We'll see they get the message," Sabine says.

"Don't beat them to a pulp unless you have to," Zeb laughed.

"I wouldn't say it like that, but yeah," Hera agreed.

"Training is about to start soon," Rex said. "We should get going."

Sabine and I nodded and we followed Rex down the corridors and turbolifts to the shooting range. When we got there it was already a mess. Loud Mouth and his team were bragging about their accuracy and how much better they are compared to everybody else.

I was wearing the first set of official armor that Sabine designed over my uniform, and Sabine was wearing her armor. Her rank pins were once again clipped to the collar of her bodysuit. As for my own, they were magnetically locked onto my chest plate.

"Captain on deck!" some of the recruits shouted as all, except Loud Mouth's squad, snapped to attention.

"Oh look," Loud Mouth jeered. "The old man is back to teach us what we're already good at!"

Many other recruits just rolled their eyes while Loud Mouth's squad just laughed.

"We have some important people supervising our training today. So I expect the best out of ALL of you!" Rex shouted. He turned to me and Sabine and waved us in.

"May I introduce the two top generals of the rebellion. General Ezra Bridger, and General Sabine Wren. Both active members of Central Command, and veterans of the old Rebellion," Rex said.

I eyed Loud Mouth and he didn't look like he bought what Rex was selling.

"I can understand Sabine being a top general and active Central Command, sir," he said. "But that kid next to her doesn't look tough."

"On the contrary, _private_ ," Sabine snarled. "He's stronger than all of you together."

"Permission to prove it?" one of Loud Mouth's pals asked.

"Absolutely not!" Rex snapped, but I tapped his shoulder.

"Let's just see what he's capable of," I said.

Rex was hesitant, but he nodded. "Very well. Who would like to take a shot against General Bridger?"

Loud Mouth stepped forward with confidence. "This shouldn't take long, sweetheart," he said to Sabine, throwing her a wink as well.

I saw Sabine roll her eyes in annoyance, much like she used to do with me.

"First up, shooting," Rex said as he tapped on a datapad. Rows of moving holographic targets appeared in front of us and I grabbed a blaster pistol and rifle. Loud Mouth did the same on his side of the range.

"You may fire when ready," Rex said.

"After you," I said to Loud Mouth.

Without saying another word, Loud Mouth fired his blaster very fast, many of the shots hitting the holographic targets, but many also flying wide.

The timer hit 0 and the targets disappeared. Half of the original 250 targets were hit, which would normally give somebody a decent rank status, especially within the short time limit that was given.

Loud Mouth walked past me and scoffed, "Try to beat that."

I smiled, "I'm not going to try."

"Ezra, your turn!" Rex shouted, and I stepped up to the firing line. The targets appeared, all 250 of them, and the timer began to tick down from 5 minutes. Immediately, I fired at all the targets at a slower rate than Loud Mouth, but every single one of my shots were hitting my targets.

A target was moving from right to left.

I aimed just ahead of the moving target and pulled the trigger.

 _Headshot_

Jet troopers flying in the sky...

 _Two more shots. Two more targets gone._

By the time the 5 minutes were up, I had nailed roughly the same amount of targets as Loud Mouth.

"So he got the same amount I did. So what?" he snarled.

"It's all about accuracy. You have a limited number of shots per energy pack," Rex said. "Aim carefully at your target. Don't ever fire wildly."

The recruits snapped to attention. "Yes sir!"

"Permission to challenge Bridger to hand to hand combat?"

I grinned, "This is going to be fun."

We walked onto the fight pad where recruits practice their hand to hand combat. I've had plenty of training with this, but I don't want to brag or anything.

"You're so dead, Bridger," Loud Mouth growled.

"Why's that?" I asked.

"Walking in here and showing me up like that? I can't allow it."

I shrugged, "If you think I'm making you look bad, that's your own fault."

That struck a nerve. I could sense it. He tried to start off with a spin kick to my head, but even a non Force user could see that coming.

I ducked and his leg flew right over where my head used to be.

I'm not going offensive. Just wear the guy out and he'll quit, right?

I blocked a punch and counter attacked with an elbow strike.

 _Nope. He's not going to quit._

Good old fashion sparring. Feels great to get some in.

"This isn't fair!" Loud Mouth complained. "He's wearing armor!"

"Listen," I began. "We didn't have armor before Yavin, while the Empire is full of it. War isn't fair, no matter what side you're on."

He faked a punch and kicked my legs out from under me.

I fell on my back, hard, but the armor absorbed the fall. That and we're on a pad.

I kicked my legs up and I got back to my feet, retaking my combat stance.

I guess Loud Mouth was tired of fist fighting because his friends threw a training sword to him.

"Try defending against this!" he shouted as he attempted a downward slash, which I sidestepped. I pressed my hand to his chest and just a small amount of will sent him flying a few meters.

He hit the ground kind of hard, but he stood up and tried to attack me again.

"What the hell kind of fighting is that?" he snarled as he started another strike at my head.

"I'll show you," I said as I ignited my lightsaber and cut the bar in half. One half of the bar flew across the room.

He put his weight to that attack because he practically fell over. I sidestepped him again and kicked him to the ground from behind before he could recover.

All the recruits were staring in awe at emerald blade of my lightsaber, and even Loud Mouth looked scared.

"What the hell is this?"

"It's called a lightsaber. You think you're so big and tough, try fighting Inquisitors almost every other day," I said.

I extinguished my lightsaber and clipped it to my belt again before reaching down to help the scared recruit to his feet.

"You were relying on brute strength," I said. "Try thinking during a fight and outsmart your opponent. Would you like to try again?"

"N-No sir!" Loud Mouth replied. I could sense my actions made a huge effect on him. "Sorry, sir. I should have known..."

I smiled, "No harm done, right? Now why don't you and your squad get in line and actually listen to what Rex hear is trying to tell you."

Loud Mouth nodded and hastily ran back to his line.

"Private 1st class Beck Olsen," Sabine said.

"What?" I asked.

"That's his rank and name," she replied. "I looked up his file while you were fighting. And he may or may not have told me earlier."

"I see how he looks at you," I said.

"Well, don't get your hopes up," she joked. "It's not him I'm interested in."

I smiled at Sabine and she returned the smile.

The rest of training went smoothly and I even decided to join in on it, too. It's been a while since I had a good training session so it felt great to get back to it. Beck even said he helped set up a weight room just down the hallway if I was interested in joining him and his squad for their daily workouts.

"Thanks, but I usually do that in private. I don't need to say why," I said and he nodded.

"Right. Being a Jedi and all. I just wish I had known it was you sooner. Otherwise I would have been more... friendly," he said.

"Don't worry about it. Every recruit shows up like you," I said. "However, you were pretty stubborn. That's exactly what this rebellion needs."

Beck smiled, "Thank you, sir."

I dismissed him with a salute and Sabine dragged me to her quarters to talk. I could sense something was bothering her again, but out of respect I didn't probe further.


	14. Realized Feelings

**Chapter 14**

 ** _Once again, for story purposes, there's another time gap, but this time it's not as big as before._**

 _3 ABY. Just after Resolute's ventral gun modification._

She never did tell me what was bothering her, but she didn't have to. Her homeworld surrendered to the Empire just a couple months ago and everybody knows what that's like.

But right now, that's the least of my worries. We're on the verge of a major engagement against the Empire for the first time since Yavin. Our forces have increased dramatically, especially since Bastian and his _Reclamation_ crew hacked into a popular Holo Net frequency and broadcasted several Imperial defeats over the past couple months.

Though while he was doing that, back at base our _Resolute_ was finishing up modifications, and large shipments of resources allowed the other construction bays to build a lot more _Arquitens_ cruisers; at least 30 of them in all. The four hangars couldn't fit all of them so many of them were constructed in open space from the outer drydocks.

Even better, Corellia still refuses to share their patent of their CR90 corvettes, but they've agreed to continue selling them to us under a new "civilian" alias, so we have more of those as well; in all about 25.

Hera proposed a cautious, but highly needed, executive order to withdraw from risky naval engagements until overall fleet status and production was stable. At first it wasn't popular, but the simultaneous destruction of 4 _Arquitens_ cruisers proved her reasoning. Fortunately, the casualties were minimal since everybody made it to the escape pods.

Along with the several new cruisers, we also snagged the attention of more suppliers. The Empire has stared to reconsider us as a new threat. Since they made that clear to the public, the tension grew to unbearable levels.

"There's massive fleet movements from Coruscant spreading throughout the middle and outer rim. They're really looking for us now," Bastian said.

All of Central Command was gathered to hear the Admiral's report. He and his crew have been monitoring Imperial frequencies for any sign of the Death Star. Wherever that thing is, we avoid it. At least for now.

We managed to get an even more accurate map of the station's location to the galaxy and discovered it's farther than we originally thought. The Empire wouldn't dare venture out this far to prevent their forces from spreading thin. Our base on Maridun has grown significantly to the point it's basically a fortress now. Polis Massa still hasn't been found, but we've already abandoned it long ago. The reason is clear; too much Imperial activity in the outer rim.

Every officer now had the uniforms Sabine designed, and every ground soldier had the armor. Rex once said the new battle armor reminds him of his own clone armor, but it's stronger and almost lighter. Definitely not as bulky, too, which is a plus.

Ship colors were changed from red to blue, mostly to make it easier on Rex. The red Arquitens design seemed to reignite some minor PTSD from his time in the Clone War, so changing it to blue seemed to calm him down.

...

"Sabine, anything about Mandalore?" Hera asked.

"No," she replied simply and sadly.

 _Silence_

"Okay then..." Hera said. "That covers everything, then. All commanders are dismissed."

I looked over at Sabine and could sense the turmoil. Everybody knew as well as I did that there was something on Mandalore, but it's never good so she never reports on it. It hurt her too much.

I walked out into the corridor and a squad of soldiers bumped into me.

"My apologies, General," one of them said on behalf of his squad.

 _Must be their squad leader._

"It's alright," I said. "Just watch where you're going from now on."

"Yes sir."

"Carry on," I said before turning around and seeing Sabine leaning against the wall.

"You alright?" I asked her.

"Not really," she replied.

"You really want Mandalore free," I stated.

She shut her eyes and bit her lip.

"Believe me, I want it free, too."

 _That was a dumb thing to say, but I got nothing else._

"I can almost hear my people," she muttered.

"You don't need to talk about it if you don't want to," I said.

"I know... it's just... I don't know what to do. I can't take it anymore."

"Is the Death Star still there?" I asked then.

Sabine shook her head. "No, it's been off elsewhere for a while."

 _"General Bridger, your presence is requested in General Syndulla's quarters."_

I sighed, "That's my cue to leave, I guess."

"I guess..." she muttered.

I felt really sorry for Sabine. She really wasn't the same after she heard about Mandalore's surrender.

I put my hand on her shoulder for a brief moment.

"Just hang in there, Sabine. We'll free Mandalore, one way or another. I promise," I said before leaving.

...

"So why was I called?" I asked upon entering the room.

"We just gathered intel on an abandoned Republic shipyard that has also been abandoned after the war," Hera said.

 _Straight to the point as always._

"Another shipyard?" I asked.

"The details aren't exactly clear, but Rex thinks it might have some more parts; and perhaps we could double our production with another station."

"Do we have enough people to run another station? And how do we know it's still functional?" I asked.

"We don't," she replied. "But if it is, we could use another one."

"Alright then. Where's it located?"

"A recently discovered planet within the Rishi maze," Hera said, bringing up the holo map of the galaxy. A dwarf galaxy was also shown just above our own.

"I've never seen this before..." I said.

"I don't believe it's of any major importance to the Empire, but since it is still classified as a galaxy, they are bound to have scouts in the area."

"What's the quickest way there?" I asked.

"No smaller craft such as Starbird would be able to carry many supplies, so you'll need to take the _Resolute_. The _Reclamation_ will be joining you, along with a few cruisers and corvettes."

"That didn't answer my question," I muttered.

"I'm getting to that," Hera sighed. "The Maze is 12 parsecs to the galactic North of Kamino."

"So this will be a long journey," I said.

"It would. Those class 1 hyperdrives wouldn't get you there fast enough, but Tenith figured out how to install a .8 hyperdrive without overloading the power reserves or engines."

"What about the cruisers and corvettes? They can only support class 2 hyperdrives."

"Your hangars can fit one corvette while external docking ports will carry the Arquitens cruisers. It won't be much, but we can't risk the entire fleet. I've already dispatched your designated cruisers and corvettes to the Kamino system, they should be arriving within the hour," Hera said.

"How many cruisers and corvettes are we talking?"

"8 Arquitens and 6 CR90s. That's the group that can dock with your ships so that's all we can spare," Hera said.

"Fair enough. I can get going right away," I said.

 _I'll need to see if Sabine is up for this, too._

"Don't forget to tell Sabine. I'm sure she'd want to see this station," Hera said.

...

It didn't take too long to get the _Resolute_ and _Reclamation_ out into open space. I found Sabine in her quarters on the station and filled her in on our mission. Her mood changed drastically, which made me smile.

 _"I'll pack my things real quick," she said as she grabbed her bag, filling it with spare uniforms and all sorts of stuff. She decided she wanted to wear her Mandalorian armor and I couldn't argue with her. She could wear whatever she wanted. It's not like Sabine and I are required to wear our officer's uniforms, we just choose to._

I smiled at the thought and I felt someone nudge my arm.

"What are you thinking?" Sabine asked me.

"Just happy to see you're back," I said.

She was giving me a puzzled look. "Back?"

"I'll explain later," I said. "Let's get going first."

She nodded and looked to the Nav officer. "We good to go?"

The Nav officer glanced at the Comms officer, who nodded at him. The Nav turned back to Sabine.

" _Reclamation_ reports ready. Give us the word, General."

"Word is given," Sabine said.

Moments later, the _Resolute_ was thrown into hyperspace. I looked out our port viewscreen and saw _Reclamation_ just off our aft section.

"Bastian is with us. Good formation," I said.

"First deployment since Maridun," Sabine said. I could hear a hint of excitement.

"Well, Maridun wasn't exactly a deployment," I said.

Sabine smiled and lightly punched my arm.

"We have a few hours to Kamino, then it's a long trip to the Rishi Maze. Everybody that's not running communications or navigation, get some rest," I said. "Be ready for anything, though. If something happens we need everybody back at their stations."

Several tactical officers and support crews left the bridge. I could guess where each man was going, but I didn't care. I was headed for the Officer's lounge.

When I got to the turbolift to leave the bridge area, Sabine shouted for me to hold it for her.

I pressed and held the button to keep the doors open and she ran inside the lift.

"Thanks," she said as the door closed and the lift began to take us to the crew deck.

"So you're excited for this new mission?" I asked her.

"Of course! A new station around an almost unexplored part of space should give us something good."

"Good, huh? Maybe we'll find another abandoned ship there," I said, joking.

Sabine gave me a smirk. "Maybe we will."

The lift doors opened and we made our way towards the Officer's lounge.

"If not a ship, there's bound to be resources," I said.

"There'd better be," Sabine said.

"You two getting excited about this station, eh?" the Nav officer asked, walking from around a corner.

"Who wouldn't?" Sabine asked.

"The Empire wouldn't. If they know about this station, they'd do anything to keep us from it."

"Maybe so, but would they risk that much to protect it?" I asked.

"Well the Empire does have the Death Star, so they could spare a bunch of their own Star Destroyers," Sabine said.

We entered the lounge and sat at the bar. I spotted the server droid in its little charging port, but the port was deactivated meaning the droid is fully charged and waiting for a button to be pushed.

"I don't know about you two, but I'm craving... whatever this is called," Nav said as he pointed to something on the holomenu.

"Kri'gee..." Sabine said softly. "I wouldn't recommend that for you, honestly, unless you want to be in pain."

"Is that a threat?" Nav asked.

"No, it's a warning. I'm guessing my mother had that supplied in our tanks," Sabine muttered.

"Okay then... I'll get the black ale," Nav said.

"Suit yourself. I'm going to get whatever Ezra gets," Sabine said.

"No, you get what you want," I protested.

"I am. I want whatever you want. I can't decide which I want on my own right now," Sabine said.

"You two going to share a glass?" Nav joked.

"I-I never said that..." Sabine stammered, her face slightly red.

"I'll just get some Mandalorian wine, then," I said, playing along with the joke. "One glass of Mando wine to share."

"Ezra..." Sabine whimpered.

I grinned and her, trying to contain my laughter.

She seemed to get I was joking and she about shoved me off the stool. As she did, I couldn't hold back anymore so I started laughing.

We finished ordering our drinks, Nav taking the black ale, Sabine agreeing to Mandalorian wine, even though that was meant to tease our relationship as...

Well I don't know what our relationship is.

I'd like to say we're friends, but it doesn't feel right anymore. It feels like we're more than that, but I don't know what Sabine thinks about that idea.

Or maybe I do and I'm just being dense about it.

Then it clicked for me.

Whatever has been bothering Sabine for even before Mandalore's surrender. Whatever she hasn't been telling me is finally growing clearer.

I looked at Sabine, who was happily draining her glass of Mandalorian wine, her eyes closed.

 _That's what you've been wanting to tell me, isn't it..._

I knew it wasn't the time to talk about it, so I would need to wait until she was ready. When that would be, I don't know. Maybe after we defeat the Empire, or maybe before. I hope it's not before because if something happened to her...

"Ezra?"

I blinked and realized I've been staring at Sabine this whole time.

"What are you thinking?" she asked me.

"Nothing..." I lied.

"It's not nothing, Ezra. You're showing your tell again," she said.

"I don't have a tell!" I protested.

"You do, actually," she said. "You have this far away look in your eyes, and you're fidgeting."

"If you'll excuse me, generals," Nav began, "I'll be heading back to the bridge."

Nav left me and Sabine alone.

I looked at my glass, still full to the rim of Mandalorian wine. I carefully picked it up and downed a large amount, expertly avoiding a spill.

"Ezra, please," Sabine said, taking my hand into hers.

"I know what you've been keeping from me," I said.

I could sense the surprise and fear.

"W-What do you... mean..." she asked. "I-I'm not hiding anything."

"I could sense there was something you wanted to talk to me about. It wasn't intentional, I could just feel it," I said.

"You probed me?" she asked.

"No, that's not how I found out about..." I stopped myself there.

"About my... feelings..." she finished nervously.

I nodded.

"I know you weren't ready and I didn't want to put any pressure on you about it," I admitted.

"How long have you known?" she asked.

"Just now," I said.

Sabine looked away.

"I'm sorry..." she muttered. "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you before."

"Don't apologize," I said calmly. "You didn't think it was the right time. Granted that now really isn't the perfect time, either..."

"I never wanted you to think any less of me," she said softly.

"What? Why would you ever think that?" I asked, completely surprised. "I would never think any less of you. If anything you always do better than I ever expect."

Sabine turned to me again, her eyes almost sparkling.

"If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be here. None of this would be happening," I said. "And I... well, you should already know how I feel about you."

"I used to," Sabine said. "You've been different since Yavin and especially after finding our station. I just thought you..."

I smiled. "I never have, actually."

She smiled and I could sense her mood change again. Her cheeks were very red, but she was very happy.

...

Several hours later, we were back on the bridge, getting ready to drop into the Kamino system. We received a transmission from our cruisers as well; they're ready and waiting.

Sabine and I spent the past couple hours talking and explaining... well, everything. Mostly about our feelings, but she still seemed uneasy. I couldn't blame her. These are very uneasy times, after all. She explained she wanted to wait until the Empire was no longer a threat before getting too serious in our relationship, and I agreed with her.

Nevertheless, I could sense relief from Sabine, as if a huge burden was lifted off her shoulders.

"General, we are entering the system now," Nav said.

"Good. Our cruisers are already there, correct?" I asked.

"Yes sir," Comms reported. "They reported ready a little while ago."

"Good. We should get on our way as soon as everything docks," Sabine said.

" _Reclamation_ is reporting ready. Exiting hyperspace now."

The blue tunnel of hyperspace was replaced by normal stars, and the sound of the hyperdrive deactivating was heard throughout the ship. I watched as the _Reclamation_ appeared just off our port side. I signaled for our communications officer to begin cruiser docking protocols. The three CR90s assigned to my ship docked in their designated hangar bays, and the four Arquitens cruisers all docked at the external docking ports; two starboard, two port.

All the other ships assigned to the _Reclamation_ also finished docking and we were on our way before we even knew it. Sabine went off to meet the captains of our escorts while I decided to get some sleep. I've been awake for the entire... well I suppose 'day' wouldn't really work since there's no 'day' and 'night' in space. Shift, or whatever, but as a general in the new Rebellion, I don't really have a shift. I guess I could just say I've been on duty longer than originally intended.

I went back to my quarters and changed into suitable clothing for an off duty officer, mainly just a normal shirt and pants. I hung up my uniform and set my rank pins on my desk: 5 red, 5 blue, and 5 gold. Looks a bit _Imperial_ to me, but apparently the old Republic did something like that. I feel like that's what we're starting to look like; a new Republic. I smiled at the thought since that's exactly what we aim to do; restore the Republic.


	15. Kristinal

**Chapter 15**

It felt like a couple days had passed since we left Kamino on a direct jump to the Rishi Maze, but in all honesty, I don't even know how much time had passed. Transmissions from home base kept steadily flowing through our communication consoles, mostly just fleet updates and what the Empire's up to. Since we are nearing the coordinates of this station, Hera ordered us to maintain radio silence on a long range scale. Secured frequencies between the _Resolute_ and _Reclamation_ were not optional, though. After all, this is the first time our two flagships were assigned together.

The _Reclamation_ and _Resolute_ is supposed to be in separate commands of two different fleets, and we have the cruisers to do that; however, Rex stated that a battle fleet should contain more than one capital ship. It's only common sense. If we only have one capital ship in a fleet of cruisers against a fleet of capital ships, we wouldn't last long. We are setting up a production plan, using hangars 1 and 2 as cruiser production, and hangars 3 and 4 for capital ship construction.

"Nav, what's our ETA?" I asked.

"About 10 minutes, sir."

I nodded, "When we get close to our staging point, drop us out of lightspeed. Comm, signal the _Reclamation_."

"Already on it, general."

I heard the bridge doors open and I turned to see Sabine wearing her Mandalorian armor.

"I see you've been busy," I said, referring to the scratches on the paint.

"Yeah, training," she simply replied.

"You know, it's been a while since we got to spar," I said with a small grin.

"Are you challenging me, Bridger?" she asked, a smile also starting to form on her lips.

"It couldn't hurt. The last time I sparred it was with Beck," I recalled. "I can't remember the last time it was just me and you in the arena."

"Alright, on our way back home, it's just me and you," she said.

"Deal."

"So what's our ETA?" Sabine asked then.

"Nav says 10 minutes, that was about two minutes ago," I said.

"Or you could just say 8 minutes," Sabine sighed.

I smirked and turned back to the front.

A few minutes later, we appeared at our staging area.

"I need an SSR," I ordered. That's my little abbreviation for Ship Systems Report. Every officer reported the stats of their designated systems.

"Comms are active, short range only."

"Hyperdrive is inactive, engaging subspace engines. We are 32 AU from our target."

"Weapons charged and ready. Shields have been cycled and are ready to go."

"Life support is stable," Sabine said.

"Primary and auxiliary power at maximum."

"That looks like everything," Sabine said to me.

"Hail the _Reclamation_ ," I ordered.

Sabine and I walked to the holotable near the rear of the bridge and Bastian appeared, along with his XO.

"General," Bastian began.

"Admiral," I acknowledged. "What's the status of your ship?"

"Everything's green. We're awaiting further orders," Bastian said. The connection was nice and clear.

"That's good to hear. This is the first time either of our ships have gone this far and maintained lightspeed for this long," Sabine said. "I was afraid our hyperdrives would have short circuited."

"Everything's just fine over here," Bastian said. "Deploy our cruisers?"

"We're just on the other side of the system from that station," I said. "Nav reports we are 32 AU away from it."

I turned to Sabine. "Tell our cruiser commanders to undock."

Sabine nodded and retreated back to the central platform of the bridge.

Bastian nodded to one of his officers and said he has probes ready to deploy for any sign of Imperials.

"Launch them. We don't want to risk any people," I said.

Bastian nodded and closed the channel. I returned to the main bridge and watched as several probes were launched from _Reclamation_.

"Probes," Sabine stated. "Smart call."

"It's an obvious idea," I said. "What's the status of our cruisers?"

"All four Arquitens cruisers are in formation, as are all three CR90s," Sabine answered.

"We could move our CR90s to patrol our perimeter. We could use the increased sensor range," I said.

"I agree. All this time, they've never failed at being a command vessel," Sabine said.

"General, Admiral Narada has something to report," the comms officer said.

"Let's hear it," I said, approaching the holotable once again.

The officer pressed a button and Bastian reappeared.

"Ezra, my probes just sent a signal. The area around the station is clear and we're not detecting any spatial mines, alarm triggers, or anything. Are we clear to proceed?"

"It's possible there could be something cloaked," Sabine stated.

"If there are, we haven't found them," Bastian said.

"We should proceed with caution," I said.

"There's more," Bastian continued. "We scanned the station and found lifeforms on it. It could be a trap. There's also something big inside one of the hangars, but we don't know what it is."

"Something big?" I asked.

"I don't like the sound of that," Sabine said.

Bastian was about to continue when one of his officers said something rather loudly.

 _"There's an ISD that just appeared near the station!"_

"The Empire? They really are here?" Bastian asked.

"Another ISD, sir! Three... now four!"

Before I could do or say anything else, my vision was suddenly went white and I heard a voice.

 _"They've found us. You must hurry!"_

My vision cleared and I saw Sabine staring down at me.

"Ezra!" she exclaimed.

I rubbed my head.

"What happened?" I asked.

"You tell me," Sabine said. "You just started wandering towards the wall and dropped."

I could hear the fear in her voice. Then I realized she was holding me up and I was on the floor. I could feel she was trembling slightly.

"I... I heard a voice. Male, and kind of old," I said.

"I didn't hear anything except for Bastian," Sabine said.

She helped me to my feet and I stared in the direction of the station, though I couldn't see anything but stars.

"Bastian, you said there are lifeforms on that station?" I asked.

"Yes sir, I did."

"Let's give these Imperials a surprise," I said. "Jump the ships into artillery range, but remain outside theirs. We need to take out two of those ISDs before closing in."

"Aye, sir."

The channel closed and I ordered Nav to jump us into artillery range.

The combat alarm was activated throughout the ship and we micro-jumped into range. Sure enough, we caught the Imperials by surprise. All six of _Resolute's_ and _Reclamation_ 's artillery guns focused on two different targets. The Imperials didn't even raise their shields until it was too late. The first two ISDs broke apart and just in time; our artillery cannons needed to cool down and recharge.

"Route some auxiliary power to the LRAGs," I ordered. "Helm, advance. Tactical, as soon as our primary guns are in range, open up."

"Yes sir!"

Our ships steadily approached the remaining ISDs and they tried to fight back, but our firepower proved too much for the unprepared Imperials and they tried to jump out.

"Sir, they're getting ready to jump!" Nav said.

"Signal the _Reclamation_. Tell them to prepare to fire their BACs on my signal," I said.

"Ezra?" Sabine asked.

"Quarter power," I added. "Aim for their engines."

"General, our cruisers have cut them off, but they won't last very long. Whatever you're doing, we should do it quick," Nav said.

" _Reclamation_ is ready to fire," Comm reported.

"Fire!"

 _Resolute_ shuddered slightly as the two forward Beam Artillery Cannons fired at one of the ISDs, effectively blasting a decent hole in the engine compartment.

But then we got a new reading...

"Massive energy buildup from the enemy reactor! She's gonna blow!"

"Get our cruisers away from the blast radius," I ordered.

I knew Bastian knew what was happening because I saw his cruisers leaving as well.

Moments after our cruisers got to safety, one of the ISDs exploded. The debris from that one smashed into the second one, destroying that one as well. We scanned the wreckage and found all hands lost.

"Comm, were there any outbound transmissions on any Imperial frequency?" Sabine asked.

"Negative. They never got a transmission out. My guess is that it was a scouting fleet," Comm replied.

"If that's the case, they probably don't know for sure that something is out here. But to be sure..." I said.

"Ezra, what are you thinking?" Sabine asked me.

"We need to send a false transmission; make sure the Empire doesn't look back here," I said.

"So find out their mission?" Sabine asked.

"Pretty much," I said.

"General," Comm said. "What if they were ordered to have radio silence as well? If we 'report' back to where they're from, it would send a red flag."

"You have a point," I said. "Nevertheless, we need to find out what they were doing here. _Resolute_ to _Reclamation_ ; Admiral Narada, do you read?"

 _"Loud and clear, General."_

"Search the ISD wreckages for their mission logs. We need to know what they were doing here. _Resolute_ is going to board that station and see if there's anything there."

 _"Yes sir. Be careful, sir,"_ Bastian said before the line was cut.

"Sabine," I began, turning to her. "I need you to stay on the bridge. And this time, I mean it."

"Understood," she said, but she wanted to object.

We stared at each other for a few seconds.

"No objections? Just like that?" I asked casually.

"This time, yes," she replied. "But I can't guarantee any other time."

I grinned, "I figured as much. The bridge is yours, then."

Sabine gave me a mock salute and smiled. "I'll make sure there's a shuttle ready once you arrive to the hangar."

...

When I got to the hangar, I saw an LAAT gunship already set with an away team.

"General on deck!" one of the soldiers shouted. Immediately, every man in the away team snapped to attention.

"At ease. Everybody ready?"

"Yes sir, we were just waiting on you."

I nodded, "Alright. Let's go then."

Everybody boarded the LAAT and the pilot sealed the doors.

In no time, we landed in one of the hangars of the station. This station seemed bigger than ours and had four hangars on both sides, also capital class.

The doors opened and everybody stepped out of the gunship, weapons ready. I was wearing my armor as well since we don't know what's here.

I didn't see anything in the hangars, but I felt like there was something above us. When I looked up, I couldn't see the ceiling because there were no lights up there.

"Keep your eyes peeled," I said.

I inspected my away team before we continued deeper into the station and saw they were wearing the newest armor. It was painted with a tactical black camo pattern, and the visors were polarized. Something I can't recall Sabine ever mentioning, but the visors were handed out with clear visors, but at the press of a button on the helmet could turn them silver, blue, or black, depending on the class of unit. My away team was made up of a standard assault team, so their visors were black.

"Sir, I'm not seeing anything in this hangar," one of my guys said.

"There's two people on this station, and I have a feeling there's something docked up there," I said. "Can we get lights up there?"

All my guys activated their flashlights and aimed upward.

"Is it just me, or does the ceiling look a lot closer to the ground than from outside?"

I followed the lights, inspecting the detail on the ceiling.

"Like the general said, there's probably something docked up there," another soldier said.

"Well, there's only one way to find out," I said. "Let's get to the command center. I need two to cover the gunship."

Two of my men stayed behind to cover the gunship while the rest of my team, 4 men strong, found the doors out of the hangar.

When we passed through, we saw the lights on the ceiling were on.

"Well if nobody was here, there wouldn't be lights on," somebody said.

"Agreed."

We continued down the hallway in silence, the only sounds heard were our own footsteps. When we turned a corner, there was an army of B1 battle droids in our way, all of them active.

"Woah, get back!" I shouted to my away team. Immediately, all my guys found some cover and I grabbed my lightsaber. I was about to ignite it when a droid stepped forward and started talking.

"Greetings! Our commander has been expecting you. With your permission, I would be happy to take you to him."

"Uh... sir?" one of my guys said.

"I don't think they're hostile," I said.

"We don't know that for sure, though."

"Maybe we should, I don't know, stay cautious?"

I shrugged, "Naturally."

"How many are you?" the droid asked.

"What?"

"How many men do you have with you on this station?"

"10. Pilot and copilot, 8 armed soldiers, and including me that would be 11."

"Pilots would naturally stay with their ships, but I only count 5 of you."

"I left two of my guys with the ship," I grumbled. "What the kriff are we doing, I thought you were taking me to your commander."

"Oh uh... right. Follow me," the B1 said as it turned around and began walking through the crowd of battle droids.

"Stay close, everybody," I whispered to my men before following the droid.

Moments later, we stepped into the command center of the station, but it was a bit dark to see anything. Instead we heard something terrifyingly similar to Vader's breathing.

"Kriff, don't tell me Vader's here," one of my men muttered.

"It's not him," I said. "The breathing is different and I don't sense any hatred."

"Your commanding officer is correct," a man said from the shadows. "I must apologize for the dark room. We've been running short on power lately due to our power cells overheating."

"I assume you're this station's commander?" I asked.

"I am. My name is Kristonal Prime," the man said.

"I take it Prime is your last name?" I asked.

"It is indeed. Very perceptive of you," Kristonal said. "This is my apprentice, Sabrina Wren."

"Did you say Wren?" I asked.

Sabrina nodded, "He did. We are actually both part of House Vizsla so we are familiar with a particular member of your crew... though I see she's not here with us."

"You mean Sabine?" I asked.

"A bit dense, isn't he?" Kristonal muttered. "Can you call her here? We'd like to meet her in person."

"She's in charge of my ship at the moment," I began, but Sabrina interrupted.

"You have a first officer, don't you?"

"Well... yes," I replied.

"Then it's not a problem," Kristonal said.

"Okay then..." I said warily, but I activated the comm on my wrist. "Sabine, do you read me?"

 _"Loud and clear,"_ Sabine replied, her voice clear through the commlink; not even a hint of static was heard.

"There are some... people that wish to see you," I said.

 _"What do you mean?"_

"Let me just say they know you and share your last name," I said. "And House."

 _"What?"_

"Yeah, House Vizsla and Clan Wren."

 _"You're kidding!"_

"I don't really know myself, but that's what they're saying," I said. "Just get over here and quick. And by the way, there's a bunch of B1 battle droids in the corridors."

 _"Fun. I'll be right over."_

"Alright, she's coming," I said.

"It's about time," Kristinal said.

...

It took a while, but eventually, Sabine walked into the command center and sighed.

"Alright, I'm finally here. Where are these two... wait..."

"Hello, Sabine," Sabrina said, nodding with respect.

"Not to be rude, but are you really Mandalorian? I've never seen you before in my life," Sabine said.

"Well I wouldn't expect you to remember me," Sabrina said. "I'm actually your grandmother."

Everybody went silent, and I could feel the surprise in everybody.

"You... you can't be..." Sabine said. "My grandmother died a long time ago."

"We heard about Mandalore so we built ships that we know would be useful. And considering that your rebellion wants no inspiration from the Empire when building, we decided to make things differently," Kristinal said.

"Woah, wait a moment," Sabine said. "You say you're my grandmother, but then casually change the subject?"

Kristinal shrugged, "Did I also mention that I'm a Je'daii?"

"You mean Jedi?" I asked.

"No, a Je'daii. There's a difference. The Je'daii are ancient force users, existing before this... Jedi Order."

"Then how are you even alive?" I asked.

"I uh... actually it's difficult to explain. I discovered a substance, that has long been lost, and developed something that preserved us to live a long time. That and we've only studied the teachings of the Je'daii. We're not actually _that_ old," Kristinal explained.

"Yeah that didn't really help much," one of my guys said.

"I did say it was hard to explain, didn't I?" Kristinal grumbled. "Anyway as I was saying about these ships..."

"You never answered my question!" Sabine snapped.

"Sabine," I said quietly, placing a hand on her armored shoulder.

"Permission to return to the ship?" she asked me.

 _Yup, she's furious._

I glanced at the two masked figures in front of us, then back at Sabine.

"With all due respect to the both of you," I began, "It might be best that she returns to our ship."

"I suppose you're right. Give her time to calm down," Kristinal said.

Sabine stormed out of the room without another word, shoving a droid to the side as she did.

"That was rude," the droid muttered.

"Sabine is right," I said. "You never answered her. What do you mean you're her grandmother?"

Sabrina sighed. "She was named after me. I am indeed her grandmother, but it's very hard to explain. The reason she never met me, nor heard of me, was because her mother and I parted under... unpleasant circumstances."

"Keep going," I said, sensing there was more to it.

"It's something we don't like to talk about," Kristinal said.

"Alright. Then that put aside, for now, what about those ships you mentioned?"

"They are in those hangars, one in each," Kristinal began. "We should have enough power for this holotable over here."

He led us to the holotable in the middle of the command center and, by the looks of it, it was about to burn out.

"We have collected resources for a long time and built several super capital ships, one of them is different from the rest and will be my flagship," Kristinal explained.

"So basically you want to join the Rebellion?" I asked.

"Well, I never said that, but in a way, yes," Kristinal said.

"Do you have the schematics for these new ships?" I asked.

"Of course."

Kristinal tapped about on the console for a few moments and two different kinds of ship appeared.

"These are _Legacy_ -class 'super' star destroyers. They may be a bit smaller than the Imperial SSDs, but they still pack quite a punch. Shields are equal strength, as are the weapons."

"Do they work?" I asked him then.

"They do, indeed. I personally tested their systems and they work fine. Even a live fire test on it's shields and armor and it didn't even put a scratch on them!"

"So what's this one?" I asked, pointing to a ship that looked like a brick; a very streamlined brick, bristling with weapons. It had a twin bridge, much like the Venator star destroyer did.

"This is the Ark, or _Ark_ -class star dreadnought. That's my ship," Kristinal said. "I would explain everything these ships have, but it would be easier to just send in a report."

"Last question," I said.

"Go for it."

"Are you two Force sensitive?" I asked.

I had to be sure.

"Indeed we are, though Sabine's parents and brother are not, much like Sabine herself," Sabrina said, answering my question directly.

"Now my question for you," Kristinal said. "Do you have enough personnel to run all these ships I'm giving you?"

"Well... no," I said.

"I thought as much. I will also give my droids to you. They are old B1s as you already know, but I repurposed them for pure naval combat. They will run the ships, but as long as there's a physical being in command," Kristinal said.

"Well, that's something we can figure out back at base," I said.

"We'll be staying here. We can build more ships in secret, but your fleets would need to distract the Imperials. This is the calm before the storm, general. You won't be leaving here without a fight, I know that much," Sabrina said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"The Imperials will soon understand that something is wrong once they realize their fleet never returned. Perhaps maybe sooner than we think," Kristinal said.

"Then we'll have to help you fight them off," I said. "This station's condition wouldn't last."

"No, you need to get your new super capitals back to your station. We can manage with the Ark," Kristinal protested.

"Wait, how did you know about...?"

"We know more than you think, Ezra Bridger. That and you should be careful with my granddaughter. You know how fragile her emotions can be," Sabrina said.

"I-I... what...?" I stammered.

"Now, now, Sabrina," Kristinal said. "Don't make our intruder uncomfortable."

"Intruder? I thought I was your guest!"

"We never invited you here. You just arrived the same time the Empire did," Kristinal said.

"You invited me on board," I said.

"You really are dense. You scanned us and boarded the station on your own accord. We're just very hospitable people," Kristinal said. "Now go."

"Who are you people? Other than being related to my best friend, who are you?"

"We are former Inquisitors. We knew the error of the dark side, but know the light isn't pure either. We're more in between the light and dark. We study and train under both sides of the Force. There are no records of the Je'daii. They have been long destroyed. We just happened to figure it out by ourselves. We were living long before the Clone War. Older than we may seem, but younger than we sound."

"That makes no sense," I said.

"Speak with your master. He might have the knowledge to explain in more simple terms."

"Doubt it," I simply said.

"We don't have much time. You should get going," Kristinal said.

"Alright, fine."

I turned to my away team and nodded, "Let's get out of here."

Before I left the room, I stopped and looked back to Kristinal.

"Any way I can stay in touch?"

"Connection through the Force. Master Yoda has done that before."

I nodded then quickly added, "I'll find you some more power cores."

"That will be much appreciated, young one."

I ran out of the room just as Sabine's voice shouted through the comlink. Station alarms blared as I turned a corner.

 _The Empire has returned, and in bigger force._


	16. Return Trip

**Chapter 16**

 _"~~Emergency landing authorized~~~"_

The comms crackled through the intercom just before the Imperial ships jammed our transmission to the _Resolute_.

"General, we've got incoming fighters!" the pilot shouted.

"This thing's got defenses, right?" I asked as our gunship took another glancing hit.

"Yeah," the pilot said.

"Then why aren't we using them?"

"Activating auto defenses now," the copilot said. I could hear him flip a few switches and our turrets started firing at any incoming fighter. I could almost see the green beam from inside the troop bay; it's beam looking like a miniature Death Star superlaser.

"All hands, brace for combat landing!"

...

Third time my pilot had to do combat landing, but unlike the first two we were unscathed. We didn't get shot down this time so that was a plus.

"Everybody get to your battle stations," I ordered just before running up to the bridge of my ship.

When I got to the bridge, I found Sabine leaning over the holotable. She was concentrating on the battle so much she didn't see me enter.

"Sitrep! What are we up against?" I ordered.

Sabine's eyes jumped up to meet mine and she stood at attention.

"Several Star Destroyers, about 8 of them now. We never saw them coming," she said.

"At ease, Sabine. Remember, same rank?" I reminded her.

"Same rank or not, I'm..."

An explosion rocked the ship and we stumbled a bit. When the shaking stopped, an officer shouted the damage report.

"We have a hull breach on deck 6, section 4. Sealing compartments now!"

"Get our damage control down there and patch it," I said. I pressed a button on the holotable then. "All fighters, keep the TIEs off of us. Clear the way for the bombers."

Our dorsal hangar doors opened and several wings of T-65 X-wings flew out, their S-foils already in combat position.

"Ezra, we need to get out of here!" Sabine said.

"We're not running. Not this time," I said.

"Why not?" she asked. "We're hopelessly outnumbered and outgunned."

I grinned, "No we're not."

As if that was some sort of cue, a large, green beam flew past us and collided with the nearest Star Destroyer, which lost power immediately and began to fall away from the battle group. But before it could leave the formation, it suddenly exploded.

"Reactor core detonation?" Sabine asked.

"Our friends from that station has ships, remember?" I asked, looking to the several _Legacy_ \- class Super Star Destroyers taking formation near us. Out of the 7 massive ships from the hangar, one of them stood out over the rest.

"The _Ark_ ," I mumbled. I never saw it in person, but it certainly looked tougher and more heavily armed than the holo.

"What... is that?" Sabine asked me. The battle seemed to fade from my mind. I almost forgot we were under attack until another heavy hit shook the _Resolute_ once again.

"Sir!" the comm officer called out. "We're receiving a transmission from one of those ships!"

"Bridge only," I said.

The officer nodded and let the signal through.

 _"Generals Bridger and Wren. Sorry for the delay, we had a little trouble with our docking clamps."_

"Better late than never, Kristinal," I said, a wave of relief washed over me at that moment. "Let's push these Imperials out of your system."

 _"I couldn't agree more."_

"I want all our LRAGs to focus fire on the nearest ISD, give them all the power we can spare," I said to my gunners.

"Yes sir!"

All of our primary batteries opened up on the nearest ISD and we all watched as the ISD was torn apart my concentrated firepower from _Resolute_ and _Reclamation_.

"Ezra, the _Reclamation_ is following our lead," Sabine said.

"Good. Kristinal, do you read me?"

 _"Loud and clear."_

"I want three of our _Legacy_ 's to cover the station, and the other three to flank around to block those Imperials from escaping. I already have cruisers doing their best, but they need assistance. I'm sending designated coordinates now."

 _"Coordinates received. Moving the fleet into position."_

I watched as three _Legacy_ \- class ships cut off the Imperials in the event of an attempted retreat.

"They're cut off. They're not going anywhere," Sabine said.

"All ships focus all fire on your nearest target," I said. "We should end this fight and leave before something else shows up."

 _"Bridger, this is Kristinal."_

"Go on, Kristinal."

 _"We're not coming with you, but you do not need to worry about us."_

"The Empire could very well come back," I said.

 _"The Ark is built with a passive function to scramble coordinates once any ship enters its proximity. These Imperials would only read off false coordinates to their friends. We are well hidden, but until we get new power conduits, the station's defenses will be down as will ship production."_

"We'll get you your power cells. As soon as we're done here, I want all remaining cruisers and corvettes to dock with either _Resolute_ or _Reclamation._ "

I watched as all of our ships converged on the enemy fleet, every gun we had was firing on the Imperials with devastating effects. Nothing survived. We collected the data logs of all the destroyed Destroyers and jumped to hyperspace, but not before giving Kristinal and Sabrina our respect.

I leaned back against the wall and called for fleet status. I was handed a datapad and headed to the officer's lounge. After I got there, I sat down at the bar and read through the report.

We lost a couple cruisers and most of our corvettes, though there were survivors picked up. The _Resolute_ had small fires along our port side hangars and even our life support had minor damage. The _Reclamation_ didn't fare much better, but just looking at it from the _Resolute_ 's bridge we could see it took more of a beating than we did. The commanding droids on our new _Legacy_ \- class 'super' star destroyers reported no hull damage of any kind. Not really surprising for a ship designed to combat the Imperials Supers.

"You all right?"

I ran my fingers over my eyes and blinked a couple times. Sabine was sitting on the stool next to me, a worried look in her eyes. I started thinking about the past few hours. The long amount of time it took to get from the hangars to the command center of that station, under a battle droid escort, the complicated conversation with Kristinal and how he's a Je'daii... whatever that is. The Empire's arrival at the station and the relatively quick battle. After all that, I didn't think my brain could take in anything more. I glanced out one of the windows and could see a _Legacy_ 'super' star destroyer off our port.

I sighed, "Yeah. I'm fine. If anything I'm more worried about you."

"What's to worry about?" she asked me.

"That... reunion with your grandmother," I said. "If she really is your grandmother."

"As much as I wish it wasn't true, I'm afraid she is," Sabine grumbled.

I kept staring at Sabine until she opened up.

"Honestly... I don't know how I feel. I never really met my grandmother until now. My mother has a strong opinion against her and you might understand why."

"Being Force sensitive?" I asked.

Sabine nodded, "That and they never saw eye to eye; at least that's what my mother said."

"She even mentioned that she and your mother departed under 'unpleasant circumstances'," I said.

"I don't want to talk about it anymore," Sabine said.

I nodded, then asked, "You want a drink?"

Sabine glanced at me, a small smile forming on her lips. "Would this count as a date?"

I've never felt so much heat since that time I went looking for Obi-Wan on Tatooine.

"I... uh..."

She started giggling. "Are you all right? You're completely red!"

"I-I'm..."

Sabine giggled a bit more, then lightly punched my shoulder.

"This is going to be fun," she said. "Since that talk we had on the way up here, I've been finding it easier to get closer again."

"You did get distant from everybody for a while after Yavin," I said. Sabine shrugged.

"Well it was... really hard to believe," she said. She slid closer to me as I got the droid's attention.

"Ah, generals. How may I be of service?" the droid asked.

"Two glasses of..." I began, but Sabine interrupted.

"Mandalorian wine."

I looked over at her. "You sure you don't want something different? We have that more than any other drink."

"That's because we're always on duty," Sabine replied. "If we drank anything too strong we wouldn't be fit for command until we can walk straight."

"But right now we're on our way home," I protested.

"No, we're on our way to Kamino, then to home."

"If I may, sir," the droid began, "she does have a point. Strong drinks while on duty is not recommended."

"Alright, fine," I said, giving in.

Sabine softly cheered with victory as the droid started to get our drinks.

After a few moments of silence, I began to sense that something was on Sabine's mind. After a quick mental debate, I decided to ask her about it.

"Something on your mind?" I asked.

She frowned at me. "You probed me again?"

"No, I could just sense it. It's really easy to catch, really," I said.

Sabine sighed, but nodded. "Yeah, but it's not bothersome."

"What were you thinking?"

"Those _Legacy_ -class super star destroyers we got; is this all we'll have total? I mean, we can't necessarily build these at our station since they're too big for the hangars," she said.

"If we can get Kristinal new power cells, since his current ones are old and worn out, he can get his droid crew to build more if the need be... at least, that's my guess," I replied.

"Well, one thing's for sure," she said, "they'll likely be assigned to the taskforce to take my homeworld back."

"You're jumping again," I said. "We don't know if that will happen anytime soon."

"I hate to admit it, but I know that already," she grumbled.

"Though I will agree to that," I added. "It might not be anytime soon, but we'll need everything we have to fight the Empire at Mandalore."

Sabine nodded as the droid set two glasses on the table in front of us. Sabine picked up her glass and downed a quarter of her drink in one gulp.

"How do you not choke when you do that?" I asked her, changing the subject.

"It took me a while to be able to do that," she replied. "I can teach you."

"I can figure it out on my own," I said.

She shrugged, "Suit yourself. It's not hard; even you could get it... eventually."

...

Several things filled my mind, just to dissipate in the energy of the Force. Sabine decided to take command of the fleet for a while and told me to get some rest, but I couldn't sleep. It wasn't the Mandalorian Wine keeping me up, either; I just wasn't tired, but I knew Sabine would have a fit if she caught me walking around, so I decided to meditate. It's been a while since I last meditated so might as well do it. I thought about all the pain we've all been through; Scarif, Yavin, that battle in a nebula, Mon Cala, Lothal, everywhere. All that pain I held inside of me was finally released into the Force. For the first time in a long time, I almost felt at peace, but there was still one more thing that kept me from it; the DS-1 Orbital Battle Station and the fact that it's still out there, likely blowing up another innocent planet.

I felt a presence enter my room so I opened my eyes to find Sabine standing in front of me.

"Meditating again, eh?" she asked.

"I can't remember the last time I did that," I admitted. "It's been a while."

"Mhm. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that we've just left the Kamino system. We should be back at home base within a few more hours."

"Great, thanks."

Sabine was about to leave my room, saying she was going to get some rest for this jump.

"Wait just a moment," I said.

"Yeah?"

"We still have to spar," I said. "Remember when we agreed to spar on our way home?"

Sabine grinned at me, "I was hoping you remembered, but do we have to right now?"

"Are you scared?" I taunted.

"Oh please," Sabine said, turning to face me. "I bet I could still beat you in my sleep."

We made our way to the training deck and set up the mats to mark the border of our fighting space.

"So what kind of sparring do you want us to do?" Sabine asked me as we stepped into the open space.

I grinned and pulled out my lightsaber, setting it to training mode and igniting it.

Sabine returned the grin and pulled out a familiar object from her waist.

"Is that..." I began to ask and she ignited the blade. The pure black core with a bright silver outline cracked the air around it as she swung it a few times, showing her sword skills had not escaped her.

"I know what you're going to ask," she said, then. "I didn't know this until a while ago, but my mother has been holding on to this for sometime. It wasn't until a few weeks before we were deployed to this mission when she handed to me."

"Just in case you might have needed it?" I guessed.

She shook her head, "Nope. The _other_ reason."

"That's incredible!" I exclaimed. "But... I thought you didn't want it anymore."

"I refused at first," Sabine said. "But as stubborn and persistent as my mother is... I didn't really have a choice but to accept it."

I smiled, "Well then, stun or no stun?"

"Keep it on stun for a bit until we get used to this again."

I nodded and stood at ready position, watching Sabine do the same. We stared at each other for a few moments before she made the first move. She charged at me and feinted a strike at my midsection, spinning around to keep the momentum of her blade as she struck down at my head. I lifted my blade and held it horizontally and our blades met. She started putting more pressure on my lightsaber so I used that force against her by spinning my blade around, forcing hers into the ground; however when that happened, she spun around and kicked me in the chest, forcing me to stumble.

I looked up and saw Sabine grinning at me. "Had enough yet?"

I returned the grin and stood up straight, keeping my blade ready at my side. "Nope."

I charged at her this time and our sparring went on for what seemed like hours. By the time we were finished, Sabine and I had tied, though I didn't think we were keeping score until afterwards.

"So," she began, her breathing heavy. "Now what do we do?"

I used the Force to grab a couple water bottles from a bench not too far away from us and handed one to Sabine, who happily drained half of the water from the clear bottle. I drank a bit of water before answering.

"I don't know. Maybe just relax in our quarters," I suggested, starting our walk out of the training deck. "I might be able to get some sleep this time; you wore me out." Sabine followed me down the corridor towards the turbolifts.

She smiled, "That's my specialty, General."

I rolled my eyes, "No, I think your specialty is making sure I'm not doing something stupid."

She raised an eyebrow at me. "Oh really? What makes you so sure of that?"

"Well for one you disobey my orders to stay on the ship in the event I'm not on board," I started. "Let's see... You constantly worry for me on the battlefield, especially if you're not there..."

We found the turbolifts and began the trip towards the crew deck.

"I do not!" she exclaimed, but her objection didn't seem authentic.

"Do, too."

"Don't start arguing with me, Ezra," she warned, but there was a playful tone in her voice.

I grinned, "Why don't you try and stop me?"

Sabine stepped in front of me and slapped the emergency stop button on the control panel. Then she turned around and faced me, her hands on her hips.

"There's nowhere to run," she said quietly. "I can stop you right here, right now."

I chuckled, "You know I could just cheat and press the button with the Force, right?"

"You could..." she began, slowly inching herself closer. "but I have my ways to stop that, too."

"Really, now?" I asked, testing her.

She placed her hands on my chest and gently pushed me against the wall of the turbolift. She lifted herself up towards my ear, her cheek brushing against mine.

"Yes, really," she whispered, sending chills down my spine. My heart was beginning to beat faster with every passing second. She pulled her head back and faced me again, just a couple inches of air separated us.

I grinned and kissed Sabine on the cheek, completely taking her by surprise. I used that to my advantage and slid around her, pressing the button to get us moving again.

When I looked back at Sabine, her face was a light red, but she was smiling.

I winked at her and smiled, "I have my ways around you, too."

"That was a cheap shot," she sighed.

"You started it," I said.

"It's getting harder to win against you," she said, just before the lift doors opened.

"Who's holding up the lift?" somebody asked.

I turned around and saw a smaller, and seemingly younger, human male, wearing his naval uniform; Navy badge and all. I glanced at his rank pins and concluded he was an ensign. He must have seen my rank because he turned a bright shade of red from shame and embarrassment.

"My apologies, sir. I didn't know it was you."

"It's all right, ensign. Where were you headed?" I asked.

"I was just heading down to the training deck, sir. I just figured I could pass time down there."

"Are you on duty?"

"I just finished my shift, sir."

"Sabine? Any objections?" I asked.

Sabine shook her head. "None. Please excuse us, Ensign..."

"Ensign Johnson, General."

"Ensign Johnson," Sabine repeated. "Very well.

The ensign nodded and he entered the turbolift. Sabine and I continued our way to my quarters.

When we got there, I began to recline on a chair and Sabine decided to wash up.

"I don't have anything here you can wear," I said, but she only smiled and said, "I know."

She shut the door to my refresher and moments later, I heard the sound of rushing water from the shower.

"She could have just gone to her quarters to do that," I said, thinking out loud. I need to clean up, too, so she shouldn't take too long.

 _Then again, it's Sabine; she always takes long showers._

I picked up a datapad that was sitting on my desk across the room and started reading the daily reports from Central Command. Apparently, while we were away, we built about 20 more Arquitens light cruisers, but Corellia canceled our ability to build their ships, but they would be willing to give us some through our older way; the black market.

Since the Empire monitors all ship purchases through regular ship markets, that's the only way they can sell them to us. Of course it would be a complete indirect sale since they can't actively send their products to the black market. It's a long and complicated process to get it on there, but it's guaranteed to be a bit cheaper.

I scrolled through the reports some more and found that some of our troops hijacked another large Imperial shipment of capital ship parts; turrets, engines, reactors, etc. We're getting close to being able to build another _Avenger_ -class SD.

 _Well they're going to be in a great mood once they see what we've brought home with us,_ I thought.

I heard the shower shut off, which was odd. She always took longer in the shower on the Ghost. A little while later, the door opened and Sabine stepped out, wearing only her Mandalorian body suit. She held a towel to her head, trying to dry her dark hair.

"Your turn," she said to me.

"Uh... Who are you and what did you do to Sabine?" I joked.

"Haha, very funny," she said with a very sarcastic tone. "Just because I took a shorter shower doesn't mean I've changed."

"You're hair color changed," I noted.

"Yeah, I know," she said. "I got rid of the color. This isn't the first you've seen my normal hair color, so don't act so surprised."

"Fair enough. By the way, I was looking through my datapad while you were in there," I said, handing her the pad. "It's been updated with the recent reports."

"Thank you," she said, but when she looked up at me, she gasped.

"What?" I asked.

"You're um... bleeding," she said.

"What?" I asked, feeling around my head with my right hand. I felt something wet on my forehead, just above my right eye. When I looked at my hand, my fingertips were glistening red. "When did this happen?"

"I must have hit you harder than I thought," Sabine said as she looked for a medkit.

"Woah, Sabine," I said, grabbing hold of her hand with my left hand. "I'm fine. I can take care of it while I'm in there," I said, pointing my thumb towards the refresher.

"No, I did this, so I have to fix it," she said.

"No you don't. Just relax, you worry a bit too much."

"I do not!"

I chuckled, "Sure you don't."

I shut the door separating the refresher from my room and looked in the mirror. Sure enough, there was a small cut just above my right eyebrow. I opened a medical cabinet and pulled out a small medkit. Inside was just the basic supplies for cuts like this. I picked up a small, disposable towel and soaked up any blood that broke through my skin. Then I picked up the small, bacta-laced bandage and applied it. After that, I stepped into the still steamy shower after stripping off my uniform and turned on the water, but instead of the familiar and soothing hot water, I was greeted with freezing cold. I yelped and scrambled for the heating controls when I heard Sabine's laughter from my room.

"Haha, very kriffing funny, Sabine," I shouted, just to hear more laughter.

I couldn't help but smile at the stunt she pulled. After I switched the water temperature to how I liked it, I started thinking of how to get her back.


	17. Solo

**Chapter 17**

I finished my shower and wrapped a towel around my waist before unlocking the refresher door. I never brought any other clothes into my shower since they'd get a bit damp from all the humidity the hot water put in the small space. I momentarily forgot that Sabine was in my room, so when I stepped out and headed for a storage compartment holding spare uniforms, I found a very red Sabine sitting in a corner, datapad in hand.

"E-Ezra..." she sighed.

I quickly grabbed a spare uniform and rushed back to the refresher, apologizing the entire time. I looked in the mirror and saw how red my own face was.

"Damn it, Bridger, what was that?" I quietly asked myself.

I finished getting dressed and stepped out again, scanning the room for Sabine, who was still sitting on the couch, but the datapad wasn't in her hands anymore. Instead it was lying face down on the floor.

"S-Sorry about that," I stammered. "I forgot you were in here."

"D-Don't worry about it. These things happen, right? Besides, you could think of it as payback for my stunt earlier."

I grinned, "No, I've got something else planned."

She raised an eyebrow, "Oh really?" She stood up and walked up to me. "Would you care to explain what that is?"

"Not a chance," I said.

"Not even if..." she slowly wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled herself closer. "We did something?"

I gulped, "No..."

Her face was once again just a couple inches away, her warm breath seemed to make the room temperature skyrocket.

Just when I thought Sabine was going to do something else, our comms beeped a couple times. Sabine unwrapped her arms from my neck, a look of annoyance on her face.

"Now what?" she grumbled.

"Why don't we * _cough*_ find out..." I said, nearly choking on my breath. _That was really close._

I picked up my communicator and activated it.

 _"General?"_

"I hear you. What's going on?" I asked.

 _"We are getting close to Epsilon Station. You're needed on the bridge."_

"Acknowledged, Commander," I said. "We'll be right up."

 _"Yes, sir."_

I clicked off the communicator and looked at Sabine. She did not look happy at the interruption.

"Just when things were getting good, right?" I joked.

"This isn't over, Ezra," she warned, a smirk formed on her lips.

"Of course not," I agreed, quickly stealing another kiss on her cheek. She gasped again, but before she could really react, I ran out the door.

"I'll see you on the bridge?"

I didn't mean to say that as a question, honestly. I never heard a reply. Either because I was already gone, or because she was speechless.

...

"Commander, what's our ETA?" I asked upon arriving on the bridge.

"Nav reports 5 minutes out, sir. I've already sent a signal to home that we're on approach," the XO said.

"Good. You didn't spoil our surprise, did you?"

"Of course not, sir," my XO said, smiling. "But they'll have one hell of a time trying to figure this out."

"Our engineers would probably die after one look at these," I joked.

A few minutes passed and we exited hyperspace. Sabine entered the bridge right afterwards, wearing her uniform and rank pins.

"General on deck!" the xo shouted.

"At ease. Anything new to report, general?" Sabine asked me.

"Not really. We just left hyperspace next to our station," I replied. The Comm officer got my attention and reported that we have an incoming transmission.

"Let it through," I said.

 _"General Bridger, where in the galaxy did you get those?"_

Hera appeared on the holo table, Bastian appearing next to her from his own ship.

"Let's say an old relative of Sabine's built them. That station we went to is operational, but he does not want a rebel presence there," I said. "He is more than happy to build ships for us, though and send them to us via droid crew."

 _"How can you be sure it's not a trap?"_

"The Empire tried to kill us while we were there. Let me say, these _Legacy_ -class 'super' star destroyers are very powerful," Sabine said.

 _"Legacy-class super star destroyers?"_

"Not quite as big as the Executor," Sabine said. "But their shields and weaponry can rival one. We saw it first hand."

"But we need to get them a bunch of power cells to get their station defenses back, as well as production," I said.

 _"How soon do they need them?"_

"As fast as we can," I said.

 _"Unfortunately we don't have a freighter fast enough to get there within a couple days. Do you think they can last that long?"_

"It didn't look good when we got there," Bastian said. "I saw defensive armaments fitted on the hull of the station, but they didn't look active. I also read a lot of power fluctuations within the station."

"The only ship I can think of that's fast enough to get there before anything else is..." I began, but Sabine finished my sentence.

"The Millenium Falcon? Are you seriously considering looking for that coward?"

"If we want to get supplies there as fast as possible, then yes," I said.

"He only helped the Rebellion get Leia back for the money," Sabine growled. "Then left just before the fight. Why would he help us now?"

"I have a few ideas," I said.

"Guilt tripping him won't help," Hera said.

"Whoever said I would guilt trip him. Besides, we've got to find him first. Any ideas?"

"I still have his comm frequency," Rex said. "From when he landed here the first time."

"We're well out of range for that," Sabine said.

I thought for a moment, then remembered what Luke told me about his meeting with the smuggler just before the battle.

 _"Ben and I found him in the Mos Eisley Cantina on Tatooine. At first I wasn't sure about him, but he got us to Alderaan... or at least what was left of it."_

"I might know where to start our search," I said. "Luke said he first met Solo on Tatooine; Mos Eisley Cantina."

"Ezra?" Sabine asked.

"First, I'll need my _Starbird_. Secondly..."

"I'm not staying here," Sabine said, firmly.

"Sabine..." I sighed, but she wouldn't hear it.

"We make a better team when we're together, Ezra," she said.

"We can keep the _Resolute_ here for guard duty. _Reclamation_ can sit in high orbit of Tatooine, away from enemy scanners," Bastian said. "Imperial scanners aren't exactly long range on Tatooine, mainly because the population is highly anti Imperial, so it's hard for them to do anything. That Hutt wouldn't allow it."

"Jabba," Hera said.

"Yeah, him," Bastian said.

"Why can't we just go in the Starbird?" I asked.

"Our star destroyers have a .8 hyperdrive, remember?" Sabine said. She obviously figured it out long before I could. "The _Starbird_ has a class 1 hyperdrive. It can get us there sooner."

"I have a better idea," Rex began. "If we're sending one of our star destroyers, make sure the public can see it."

"The Empire probably has star destroyers there," Hera said.

Rex shook his head, "I disagree. They're usually not there unless something is happening. That and we're never going to grow if we don't get support."

"There are troopers there, but I think Rex is right," Bastian said. "I just checked their movements; enemy fleet formations and patrols, there's nothing anywhere near the Tatooine system."

"What do you mean you checked their movements?" Sabine asked.

He grinned, "I may have forgotten to mention this before, but the Empire thought my crew and I were KIA, so they never changed the access codes."

"You knew about this and you never said anything?"

"I forgot about it until now," he said. "In my defense, everything happened a little fast."

"He's got a point," my xo said.

"Alright, then. We'll start our search at Tatooine," Hera said. "Admiral Narada, what's _Reclamation_ 's status?"

"We're ready whenever, Ma'am," Bastian replied.

"Good. Sabine, Ezra, I want you two on this. We'll our first spec ops team with you," Hera said.

"Our Special Forces squad is ready?" Sabine asked.

"Fresh from training since yesterday, General," Rex said, proudly.

"But why the special forces?" Sabine asked.

"Tatooine is far behind enemy lines and Bastian said there are garrison troopers there. We need to keep a smaller force to prevent any suspicion. Everybody will have to wear their combat gear, but will also have to wear robes over it," Hera said.

Everybody agreed and not long afterwards, Sabine and I were on the next shuttle to the station's hangars to meet up with our new spec ops team. After that, we were to head to the _Reclamation_ for the jump to Tatooine.

...

"Sabine," I called out, knocking on her refresher door. "You've been in there for a long time. Do you plan on staying in there for the entire..."

The door opened and Sabine stepped out. Her hair was different, as was her armor. Her hair was the color of a desert, her armor was also the same color.

"Trip?" she asked me, finishing my sentence.

"You..."

"Changed my hair and armor again, yes," she said with a small laugh.

"I-I can barely recognize you," I admitted.

"Good," she cheered. "That means they won't recognize me, either."

I smiled, "That's good. We have a while until we get there so we should get some sleep while we can."

Sabine returned the smile, "Great idea, but how will it work? Me with you, or you with me?"

"What?"

"Am I staying with you, or are you staying with me?" she asked again. Her eyes were sparkling a little and she was biting her lip.

"A-Are you serious?"

Sabine's smile widened and she started laughing, "Of course I'm not serious. At least, not yet anyway."

I could feel the blood rushing to my face. "Umm... I..."

Sabine giggled a little, "Confident enough to tease me with a cheek kiss, but once I mention something else, you get speechless?"

I smiled, nervously, "Yeah..."

"You do whatever you want for now. I'm going to get some sleep."

"You don't really mean that," I said.

"Not literally, no," she said.

"Of course," I said. I left Sabine's room and headed for my own quarters, which was just down the hall. I couldn't remember the last time I actually got some sleep, so I was very tired.

...

I woke up to Sabine's smiling face looking down at me; her small smile growing when she saw I was awake.

"Sabine?" I groaned, groggily. "What's going on?"

"Nothing bad," she said. "Bastian wanted to send somebody to wake you up since we're almost to Tatooine now, and I just happened to volunteer."

"I slept through the entire trip?" I asked.

"Surprisingly, yes," Sabine said.

I sat up and stretched my limbs, even rolling my head around to loosen my neck muscles.

"How did you sleep?" I asked her.

"Not as well as you did," she admitted. "Seeing you look so peaceful... I didn't want to wake you."

I chuckled, "I guess I was more tired than I thought. Come on, Bastian's probably waiting for us on the bridge."

I stood up and was about to leave, but Sabine grabbed my arm and spun me around.

"Not without a shirt, you're not," she giggled. She picked up my undershirt and pressed it into my hands. Her cheeks were flushed and I noticed she was struggling to keep eye contact.

I must've taken my shirt off in my sleep, especially since I just realized how warm it is in my room and I don't think it was my embarrassment.

I quickly slipped on my undershirt and followed her out of my room and to the bridge. When we got there, Bastian started briefing us on a plan.

"We're going in quietly. I triple checked the system and there are no ISDs there so we should be alright. We'll be up in high orbit, but we'll be ready to descend to the surface if needed. No gunships, either. Your _Starbird_ is in the hangar; it's already been prepped for launch. Unfortunately, Sabine's symbol had to be painted over to prevent any recognition."

"No worries," she said, but I knew she was not happy that they messed with her masterpiece.

"You will be wearing combat gear, too. Unfortunately, when we tried to put Tatooine-style cloaks over it, it still looked very suspicious so we'll need to be very careful."

"I suggest we send scouts to the hangars to locate the _Falcon_. If it really is here, like Ezra suspects," Sabine explained, "then we should be able to proceed."

"She's right," I said. "What's our team armed with?"

A small smile formed on Bastian's lips, "Well it's not the top gear, but they found slugthrowers. Even better, they found matching suppressors."

"Then I know how we can walk in and out unnoticed," Sabine said.

"Feel free to share with the rest of us," I said.

"The team was trained in everything, correct?" she asked Bastian.

"Rex said they can be whatever they need to be on the field. Special intelligence, they even trained in extraction... literally everything a special forces unit has."

Sabine grinned, "Good. If we find the _Falcon_ in a hangar, I want two snipers to secure the ship. Under no circumstances must they get close to it, I only want them for surveillance and, if need be, a way to prevent Solo from leaving. Everyone else can be in groups of two or three and maintain surveillance over the streets and Imperial movements."

"You'll need two of them for escort," Bastian pointed out. "It's required for high ranking officers such as yourselves."

"Right," I said.

"Admiral, we are approaching the Tatooine system," the Nav officer reported.

"Drop us out of lightspeed. Prep the hangars for deployment," Bastian said. He turned back to me and Sabine. "You two should go get ready. If things sound like they're getting out of hand, we'll jump right in for a quick extraction."

"Thanks," I said before leaving the bridge. Sabine was following me closely all the way back to my room. My combat armor was resting on the armor stand, ready and waiting to be used again.

"I suggest painting that for the desert," she said.

"Not everybody looks like the desert, Sabine," I said.

She only shrugged, "Alright then."

I replaced my uniform with the body glove for the armor plates. Sabine had recently made another set specially made for me to use. It's not quite as protective as the armor our foot soldiers have, but it still really helps against E-11 blasters. Not that anything would get passed my lightsaber, but just in case that does happen...

"Does it fit alright?" she asked me after clipping the back plate to the suit's hardpoints.

I moved my arms and shoulders, bending my elbows and knees as well. "Feels great," I said.

"Good. Remember, this isn't as strong as the standard armor, but it is a bit lighter, so try not to start any trouble," she said.

"Understood," I said. I turned around and looked Sabine in the eye "As for you," I began, "You know how dangerous the Mos Eisley is."

"Yes, I know. Don't worry, I won't let anybody near me," she said. "I'm serious about that."

I grinned, "Then let's get going."

When we got to the hangars, we filled our team in on the plan and assigned specific targets to every two-man group. Bastian designed the groups and I noticed that Beck and another operative I never officially met was with me and Sabine. The armor my team was wearing was colored much like Sabine's, but they also had backpacks and extra mag pouches clipped to their belts. They looked ready for a fight so this should keep any thugs away, but it might attract Imperial attention.

"General," Beck said, snapping to attention. "It's a pleasure to fight alongside you."

"Likewise, but let's try not to start any fights. There are Imperials on this world, but we are under orders to not engage the Empire or anything else unless provoked. Understood?"

"Yes sir!"

"Alright, then let's get going," I said, pressing a button on my belt to open the boarding ramp to my ship. Everybody ran aboard and after a quick headcount, I closed the ramp and started the engines. As soon as the _Starbird_ was hovering, I flipped a switch and the wings began to move from their vertical position to flight. I saw the hangar doors were opened and I pushed the throttle to cruising speed and we shot out of the hangars.

...

Apparently, Bastian assigned an extra pilot to my team because I was about to find a place to land when somebody stepped up and said he'll drop us off.

At first I was reluctant to hand over my ship, but after a quick probe of the guy, I decided it was safe. He lowered the _Starbird_ just above the sandy surface and my team jumped out. After I landed on the sandy surface, I did another headcount. Everybody was here.

"Alright," I began. "You all know the plan; I want two marksmen covering the hangar the _Falcon_ is in. Secure it and make sure it doesn't go anywhere. Everybody else keep an eye on the surrounding area. Form a perimeter covering all directions; two people per rooftop."

"Yes sir!"

"We'll approach the city as one unit, but as soon as we enter the city limits, take your positions. If you run into thugs or Imperials, try to make your way around them. We don't want to start any trouble."

"If trouble does start," Sabine began, "Don't hesitate to finish it."

"Understood!"

I nodded and my comm beeped.

 _"General, can you read me?"_ Bastian asked.

"Loud and clear, Admiral. What do you have for me?"

 _"Scans are indicating the Falcon is in fact in the spaceport. You are clear to move in."_

"Acknowledged, Admiral. We're on our way."

We all started running through the sand and towards the city. It wasn't a very long run, but it was so kriffing hot out here.

"You were here once before, weren't you, Ezra?" Sabine asked me as we ran.

I nodded, "When I went looking for Obi Wan, yes."

" _Against_ orders not to go anywhere," she pointed out.

"You went AWOL, sir?" Beck asked.

"Once," I said. "It wasn't an easy trip, but it ended a threat."

"Threat and nuisance," Sabine muttered.

I laughed, "Yeah. He got way too close to tearing us apart."

We crossed the city limits and made our way into a narrow alley, then stopped.

"Alright, everybody get into positions. Recon, signal us once you secure the _Falcon_. Ezra and I will enter the Cantina and find Solo. Whatever you do, don't draw attention to yourselves. Just act natural," Sabine explained.

"We'll lure Solo to the spaceport," I began. "After we get him out of the Cantina, we'll signal you via comms. As soon as you receive the signal, I want you all to head to the spaceport, particularly where the _Falcon_ is. Any questions?"

"What's the signal for rendezvous?" Beck asked.

"You'll know it when you hear it, but just so you know what to listen for," I said, then I tapped my wrist comm. Immediately, all of our comms beeped a couple times.

"Subtle," Sabine said, faking complaint.

"I recommend linking your wrist comms to the headsets inside your helmets. That way it won't attract any attention," I said.

"I was just thinking that, sir," Beck said.

"Anything else?" I asked.

"No sir!"

"Alright. Move out."

...

A little while passed before our recon team signalled us, telling us it's clear to move up and that the _Falcon_ is secured. They checked logs by hacking into the ship's mainframe to confirm it is in fact the _Millenium Falcon_.

Sabine and I, along with the other two special operatives with us stopped walking around the Mos Eisley and began making our way to the Cantina. Our two operatives were given weird looks as we passed several beings, but because of they way we were acting, the other beings must have thought we were just some sort of wealthy, organized pirate group, must like Jabba's large group of bounty hunters.

Every once in a while, I would hear one of our lookouts quietly saying something about some shady looking people giving us a look.

We entered the Cantina, which, as expected, was full of all sorts of beings.

I turned to my team and whispered, "Stay here; guard the door. Don't let anybody get close to you."

Beck and the other operative nodded and took their posts at both sides of the door. Sabine and I ventured deeper into the Cantina, but we couldn't find Solo anywhere.

"Are you sure he's in the Cantina?" Sabine asked.

I shut my eyes and focused on the Force, then after a few moments, reopened them and nodded. "He's here alright." I pointed to the far corner of the Cantina.

"Alright so we meet with him," Sabine began, "How do you propose we lure him to his ship?"

I smiled, "We get him to follow us. He might recognize us and try to turn down our offer."

"Then again, he might not," Sabine said.

"Trust me on this. He's definitely not Force sensitive, and I've been working on my bluffing."

Sabine coughed, "Bluffing?"

"Blowing up his ship or something like that," I said.

"That's cruel, but I like it."

We navigated to the far corner where Solo was seated. Of course, Chewbacca was with him, as was another being.

"Last chance, Solo," the other being growled in his native language.

 _Definitely a Tatooine native._

"For the last time, I'll get him his money once I get it!" Solo explained. This must have been going on for a while because he seemed agitated.

"If you can't pay now," the native pulled a blaster, "then you never will."

I noticed that Solo was about to draw his blaster, but before anything could happen, I had already pulled the bounty hunter's blaster from his hand with the Force.

He cried out and scrambled for the gun, but as he did, he fell out of the booth and fell face down on the floor, knocking over the small glasses on the table. The sound of breaking glass caught the attention of everybody in the bar, so I dropped the blaster and picked up the bounty hunter by the collar of his tunic.

"How about you leave this guy to me," I said.

"Who the hell are you?" the bounty hunter growled, still speaking his native language.

"You really need to get a shower," I said, then I threw the guy to the ground. "Get out of here before you regret doing something else."

"You're not the boss of me!" the bounty hunter shouted, reaching for a small knife tucked in his pocket. I lunged at me, but I could see it coming. This guy's form was sloppy, his blade work was worse.

As he stumbled passed me, I grabbed his shoulders and rammed my armored knee into his gut. He fell to the ground, spluttering and gasping for air. I pulled out my DL-44 blaster pistol and held it to the hunter's head.

"You're sloppy," I said. "Get out of here."

I grabbed his knife and tucked it into his belt, then picked him up and shoved him towards the exit.

"Thanks for the assistance, but I had it under control," Han said from behind me. He hadn't moved from his seat.

I turned around and sat down across from him.

"Han Solo."

"Do I know you?" he asked me.

"Maybe not very well," I said. "I wouldn't try anything if I were you, either. My accomplice over there is watching you, and the exit is guarded."

"Are you some sort of organized pirate organization? If you are, I'm not interested in joining. I work better alone."

Chewy growled at him and Han raised his hands. "I'm sorry! Chewy and I work best alone."

"We are somewhat organized, but we aren't pirates. You might be familiar with the late Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa?"

Han paled. "What about them?"

"It's because of you that we lost that battle. So as of right now, we're offering you a choice," I said.

"Look," Han began. He was obviously unsettled by this topic. "It's not my fault they lost. One ship can't make that big a difference."

"Are you doubting your own abilities as a pilot?" I asked.

"No," he snapped. "I just know when to avoid a fight."

I could tell he was trying to avoid hearing my offer.

"You're trying to get out of my offer," I said, quickly switching the direction of our discussion back to the original plan.

"I'm not joining you," he said.

"We weren't going to ask that you join us," I said. "Instead, we need you to do something for us."

"I won't do it," Han said. "I could care less about what you people want."

"If you insist," I said, standing up. "I guess you'll have to kiss your precious _Falcon_ goodbye."

Chewy growled, angrily, and Han stood up and got in my face.

"I'd like to see you try to take her!"

I grinned, "Then try and stop me."

With that, and with a small shove with the Force to stall them, I took off running. Sabine tossed a couple smoke grenades to cover our escape. Beck and the other operative followed us towards the hangars and I pressed a button on my comm to signal everybody to rendezvous at the _Falcon_. I signaled our two operatives to head straight for the _Falcon_ 's location.

"Don't you dare touch the _Falcon_!" Solo called out from behind us. A blaster bolt flew past my head so I pulled Sabine into an alleyway.

"We need to stall him," I said.

"What do you mean?" she asked as we ran.

"We need all of our operatives to be at the _Falcon_ but at this rate we'll get there before they do," I said.

"He's probably serious about killing us to keep us from his ship," she said, but there was no concern in her voice.

"Naturally," I replied. "Stop here."

We stopped running and turned around to see Han and Chewie turn the corner.

"Look, I don't know exactly who you are, but if you even touch my ship you will regret it," Han growled.

"We won't do anything if you accepted our offer," I said.

"But as much as you want your ship in one piece, I don't think you want to help the Rebellion any more than you did back then," Sabine said.

"I already have enough trouble from the Empire, I don't need another reason for them to come after me," Han said.

My comm beeped and I nodded at Sabine.

"In that case, we'll be going," I said and we took off running again.

...

We ran into the place where the _Falcon_ was resting and slowed to a stop. A few moments later, Han appeared behind us, his blaster pistol aimed right at my head.

"Don't take another step," he growled.

Calmly, I turned around and looked him in the eye.

"I could say the same for you," I said.

Right on cue, my team ran out from cover and surrounded Han and Chewbacca, all their blasters raised and ready.

"What is this?" Han asked.

"We never intended to do any damage to your ship," Sabine said. "We just needed to give you a reason to come here with us."

"Who are these guys?"

"These," I replied, "Are the soldiers of the New Rebellion."

"I thought this rebellion died with Yavin."

I smiled, "Clearly, that's not the case. We're better equipped now, but we need the manpower and the ships to build a considerable force."

Han hesitated, "What's in it for me? This... offer of yours?"

"There's a station in a top secret location that needs supplies. Details of its location will not be revealed until you come with us."

"I don't like this..." Han grumbled.

Beck ran up to me then. "General, our scouts are reporting several squads of stormtroopers headed our direction."

"Lock down this area," I ordered. "Don't let a single trooper get in."

Beck nodded and ran off to set up defenses.

"They'll likely call in a Star Destroyer to cut off our escape," Han said.

"We're not worried about that," I said.

"How so?"

"You'll see soon enough," Sabine said.

"We've got bucketheads!" somebody shouted as blaster fire began to fill the air.

"Starbird, I need you to return to the _Reclamation_. We are securing the _Falcon_ ," I said into my comlink.

 _"Copy that, general. RTB."_

"How long will we last against a larger force?" Sabine asked me, but not at all concerned.

"Hopefully we won't be long," I said. "That is, unless he won't..."

"Alright, fine!" Han shouted. "I'll do it, but the pay better be good."

I grinned, "Great. Leaving now would be great."

Sabine called all our forces to the _Falcon_ and just in the nick of time. As soon as our soldiers regrouped, the defensive line was overwhelmed. We fired at the Imperials while boarding the ship, but there was no cover on the ramp. I activated my lightsaber and began deflecting bolts back at the troopers. When the ramp closed and the _Falcon_ took off, Chewbacca gave me a big hug, nearly crushing my ribs.

"Ack! Yes, you're very welcome... Ow!"

Chewy finally set me back down and I heard Sabine laughing.

"Ow..." I muttered. "Very funny, Sabine."

"It's not my fault," she said, gasping for air.

In the heat of the battle, Chewy started to fire back and was nearly met with a blaster bolt, but I had deflected it right back to the sender, saving the Wookie's life. Nobody can hate Chewy, but the same can't be said for Han.

"Make sure everybody's all right," I said.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"I'm going to the cockpit," I said.

I walked down a corridor and found the entrance to the cockpit. Inside, the nav computers beeped and the scanners and alarms screamed. Han was in the pilot's seat, pressing buttons and evading incoming Imperial TIE fighters.

"At this rate," he began, "We'll never get out of here."

"You're not blaming me for this, are you?" I asked.

"Of course I am!"

"I think it's just the fact that three of the galaxy's most wanted is on one ship," I said.

"And whose idea was it to do that?"

"I'm not worried," I said.

"You will be once a Star Destroyer shows up," Han said.

He managed to pilot the _Falcon_ into space, but the amount of TIEs on our tail prevented us from staying still long enough to jump. Just when we thought we had an opening, just as expected, and Imperial II-class star destroyer arrived.

"Oh look, reinforcements," I said nonchalantly.

"How can you be so calm about all this?" Han asked.

In response, I tapped my wrist communicator and requested support.

"And how long will your 'support' take to get here?" Han asked. The answer to his question couldn't have come any sooner. A blue light caught my eyes, and I knew Han saw it, too. He didn't have time to ask what that was when the artillery shots collided with the enemy capital ship. Immediately, the ISD attempted to return fire, but its target was just out of range. The turbolasers couldn't even scratch the _Reclamation_ 's shields at that range. Believe me, Sabine's tested it before, so I know.

I grinned, "Han, say hello to the New Rebellion's new class of star destroyer. Built and designed to combat the Empire's SDs."

Han was speechless. "Wha... How...?"

"No time right now, just fly us into the port hangar," I said, pointing at the open hangar doors of the _Reclamation_.

"Yes, sir," he said.

Just before we lost visual contact of the ISD, I saw a massive explosion tear open the ISD's port bow and secondary explosions burst through the hull in several other places. The comms array exploded as well, with the two shield generator domes already burning.


	18. Beam Artillery Cannon - Full Power

**Chapter 18**

 **A/N: I don't know how the calendars work in Star Wars so I'm just going to keep it like this unless there's another way. Chances are, to make sure I keep the story where I want it to be, there'll be time changes throughout the chapter at a larger scale than just a few hours as seen in past chapters. Think of it as like a captain's log without all the boring details.**

* * *

 **Year: 4 ABY; 6th Month, Day 13.**

 **Location: Epsilon Station**

 **...**

 **Not long after Han Solo's retrieval on Tatooine.**

"Say hello to the New Rebellion, Han Solo," I said.

Sabine and I had brought him to the station's command center to fill him in on what we've been up to these past 4 years... or at least, Hera was.

"We're not saying the outcome of Yavin was your fault, but you're help could have made a difference. Your piloting skills were more than enough to cover Luke on his trench run," she said. A lump formed in my throat. "However, who knows where the Rebellion would be if we had won at Yavin 4. We never would have found this station or its resources."

"Is this a thank you?" Han asked.

"In a manner of speaking, yes, but I'd rather we didn't lose 80 percent of our forces throughout the year following the battle," Hera said.

"Actually, year and a half," Sabine corrected.

"Close enough," I muttered, but I was met with an armored elbow to my now unarmored ribs. "Ow!"

"You deserved that," Sabine said with a smile.

"Since when?"

"Since Maridun."

"I didn't know there were more Jedi in the galaxy," Han admitted. "Especially after that old man."

"Luke had the potential, and I could sense something from Leia," I said, still rubbing my bruised chest. "Doubt she would've wanted to figure it out, though."

"Let's get to the chase," Hera said. "We need you to deliver something for us to these coordinates, and upon arrival, just transmit these codes to the station."

"What am I delivering?" Han asked.

"A bunch of space station-grade power cells. According to reports the power cells of that station are nearly completely burned out, and the power reactors can't support it for much longer. This is a priority one mission put simply. Your ship is the fastest in the known galaxy, which is the reason I sent generals Bridger and Wren after you."

Han groaned, "They could have done it better."

"You wouldn't listen," I said simply.

"How long have you all been doing this?" Han asked.

"We found this station a year and a half after Yavin 4," Sabine began.

"And that was about 4 years ago," I said.

"So considering all that, about 3 and a half years," Sabine said.

"Don't do that," Han said.

"Do what?" I asked.

"Whatever you and her just did," he said. "It's creeping me out."

"You'll get used to it," Hera said. "Now about this mission?"

"I'm no delivery boy, but where did you say this station was?"

"Rishi Maze. I'll transfer the coordinates and access codes only when you accept this mission."

"Not if?"

"You don't really have much of a choice in the matter," Sabine grumbled.

I glanced at her and saw she was glaring at Han. I've also been feeling a lot of resentment towards him, but I can't blame her. After all, she's doing a great job at restraining herself.

Hera turned to me and Sabine and told us we could go somewhere else and that she'll handle the rest of things. I nodded and turned to leave, but as soon as the doors closed, I found myself being pulled by the arm towards the officer's lounge.

"You alright?" I asked when we sat down at a table.

"I hate him," she mutters.

"Hate's a strong word," I said. "But I share the sentiment."

"Welcome back, you two," the droid said as he approached our table. "Is there anything you would like?"

"Not right now," Sabine said. "But thanks anyway."

"Not a problem. If you change your mind, just let me know."

The droid left to return to the bar, where a few off duty security officers were sitting.

"Anyway," Sabine began, "I don't know why Hera wants him to deliver those power cells in the first place. For all we know he could just run off and sell those power cells to anybody in the galaxy."

"Now why would he do that?" I asked.

"He's a smuggler, isn't he? All he cares about is money."

"I can't argue with that," I said.

Sabine looked out the large window and I knew she was looking for another topic to discuss. I followed her gaze at found the entire fleet of cruisers, corvettes, Avenger star destroyers, and Legacy 'supers'.

"The fleet's getting a lot stronger," I said.

"I had a design for a dreadnought, but these Legacy's are better," she said.

"Come on, Sabine, nothing's better than your designs," I said.

She smiled at me, "No I mean it. My design would have been too costly to build. Besides, Kristinal said he would keep up production. But there's one other thing about that; where does he get the resources to build so many large ships?"

"I think he gathers it over time," I said. "He mentioned that he's been doing this sort of thing for some time... or maybe that was the clone on that ship..."

"Either way, we should be careful. We don't really know where or how he 'gathers' these resources. And who knows how long he's been doing this?"

"Maybe he's been doing this since before Yavin," I suggested.

"It's possible... but I want to know where they get everything."

"Generals!"

We turned our heads towards the door and found a couple security guards approaching us.

"Officers?" Sabine began, "What..."

"Hera's been trying to contact you two for the past 5 minutes," one of them said. "Are your communicators working?"

I looked down at mine, and even tapped on it, but nothing happened. "It's... not working?"

I looked up at Sabine and she was trying to fix hers, but shook her head in frustration. "We might need new ones."

"Any idea what happened?" the officer asked.

I shook my head, "They were working not too long ago, but it's been a while since we've had a chance to replace their power cells."

Sabine facepalmed, "Of course we did..."

The guard chuckled, "Whatever the reason, we'll need to make sure that's the case. I'll need to take those from you for a bit. We can get you new ones by tomorrow."

"Don't worry about reporting to Hera about this," Sabine said. "I can take care of it."

"You mean we?" I asked her.

"Nope. I'm usually in charge of anything dealing with tech," she said. "And while I'm there, I'm going to ask what she wanted to tell us, if you don't know."

The officer shook his head, "Not a clue, General."

...

 **4 ABY; Month 6, Day 21**

 **Location: Wild Space**

"Is there anything out here?" I asked our comm officer.

We were sent out on our usual patrol in the galaxy, which doubles as a decoy to keep any Imperials from checking anywhere outside the galaxy. These so called "Patrols" were no more than random appearances in random areas. We don't send out any beacons, but we make ourselves known in a slightly more 'subtle' way. Honestly, it makes no sense to me, but anything to get out and about. We've already been away from Epsilon for over 8 days, which isn't very long. We never seem to be out for more than two weeks before needing to go back for repairs or something like that.

"Nothing except some civilian chatter, sir," the comm officer replied.

"Confused about our arrival, I'm guessing?" Sabine asked.

"Yes, ma'am. They're wondering if we're a new Imperial ship."

"I don't think they know we can hear them, either," I said. "Leave their frequency. They wouldn't like us eavesdropping on their conversation."

"Yes sir."

One of the comm operators began talking to his commanding officer for a few moments. I kept my eye on him and his head suddenly snapped up to look at me. "General, we're picking up a distress call."

"What's its origin?" I asked.

"The closest planet from where we are," the officer said. "Nav, you have it?"

"I traced the signal. It's an unnamed planet."

"Unnamed because it's uninhabitable?" Sabine asked.

"Yes sir, but it supports a hyperspace route notorious for pirate attacks. Nobody goes through there unless necessary."

"Set a course," I said. "Get us there ASAP."

"Yes sir!"

The floor underneath my feet shuddered gently as the _Resolute_ turned in alignment with the distress call.

"No doubt that signal is set on all frequencies. The Empire might see it," Sabine said.

"We're going in," I said. "Everybody stay on alert."

The ship lurched as the viewscreen changed from dark to a bright blue and we jumped into hyperspace.

...

The blue quickly changed back to black, but there was a burning freighter in front of us. Behind the breaking metal, smoke, and flames, was a small group of _Munificent_ \- frigates firing on the defenseless freighter.

"Comm open a secured channel to that freighter!" I ordered.

The officer nodded at me and I began speaking.

"This is General Ezra Bridger of the NRSD _Resolute_. What's your status?"

The comm channel was full of static, but I could make out a terrified voice in all the chaos.

 _"General Bridger? NRSD Resolute? I don't know who you are, but if you're here to help that would be greatly appreciated!"_

"Acknowledged, captain," I said. I turned to the starfighter coordinator. "Launch fighters. Draw their fire away from the freighter."

The forward hangar doors opened and two wings consisting of five X-wing starfighters flew out of the hangars and towards the pirate ships.

"All fighters, do not fire on our targets just yet. Keep a weapons lock and make sure they know you're there," Sabine said.

"What are you up to?" I asked.

"See if those guys would surrender first," she replied. "Comm, patch me through to those pirates."

Comm nodded.

"Attention hostile crafts," Sabine began, her voice full of authority, "Stand down immediately or you will be fired upon."

 _"This is our kill. Whoever you guys are, you're not going to get the loot!"_

"We're not here for loot! Clearly, we're not pirates," Sabine said.

The comm was silent for a few seconds...

 _"Come to think of it, that ship look familiar..."_ the pirate leader said.

"It should," Sabine said. "Same frame as a Venator- class Star Destroyer that the old Republic used during the Clone War, but clearly much larger."

I could sense the panic from the pirate from the where we were.

 _"S-Star Destroyer... Kriff, we need to get out of here!"_

"Comm's still open, ya know," I said.

 _"KRI-"_

"I'm guessing he cut comms?" I asked Sabine.

"Yup. All forward batteries, fire at will on the pirate fleet. Only disable their engines, but do not destroy them. If they jump, let them go," she said.

Wordlessly, our gun crews executed the order and began firing at key points of the pirate ships. Unfortunately, none of them were crippled, but they were most certainly damaged.

"I think we scared them off," I said.

Sabine grinned at me, "Don't get too relaxed, General. We still have a freighter to protect."

I nodded and contacted Wedge.

"I need your guys to form a defensive escort around that freighter. Try to get into contact with it if possible."

 _"Copy that, general. We're on our way."_

"I need repair droids on that hull as soon as we have clearance," I said to Sabine. "Get them ready for me."

"Right away."

"Sir," my XO began. "We have ten T-65 X-wings out there, may I suggest a secondary line of A-wings to reinforce them?"

"If more trouble arrives, then we'll launch those fighters," I said. "For now, just keep them on alert."

"Yes, sir."

 _"We've made contact with the freighter, General, but their comms are spotty,"_ Wedge said through the comms.

"What's their status?"

 _"Their hyperdrive is disabled and they could repair it, but they don't have the supplies to do so."_

"I'll take that as our green light," I said. "Sabine, deploy our damage control teams to the freighter. Their hyperdrive is gone, but it's repairable."

"Got it."

"Wedge, you still here?"

 _"Loud and clear, sir."_

"Let them know we have repair units en route."

 _"Copy. I'll relay the info."_

"General," our nav officer called out.

"Which one?" Sabine asked.

"Either one, or both. I'm picking up a ship exiting hyperspace. Bearing 2-3-0."

I looked over that direction and watched as an Imperial Star Destroyer left hyperspace. Immediately, our comms were filled with the captain of the ship.

 _"This is Captain Regul of the Imperial Star Destroyer Resilient. Cease your attack on this freighter immediately, or face consequences."_

"Comm!"

I didn't need to say anything else. The communications officer immediately patched me through to the ISD.

"This is General Bridger of the _Resolute_. There must be some mistake. We're not attacking the freighter, we're assisting it in repairs. It's hyperdrive has been damaged and can be repaired, but they lacked the supplies to do so."

 _"So you mean to tell me that you're helping them? Then explain to me why it's surrounded by fighters!"_

"It's only for defensive purposes," I replied.

Sabine walked up to me and started to whisper so the Imperials couldn't hear. "Ezra, we need to get out of here."

"Is there more of them?" I asked.

"No, but..."

 _"General Bridger... Tell me, what are you a General of? What military are you from?"_

"I don't understand what you mean, Captain," I said, trying to talk our way out of trouble. We're not looking for a fight with the Empire right now, especially with a wounded ship off our starboard side. I signalled for our BACs (Beam Artillery Cannons) to be charged at half power.

 _"Your ship doesn't match any records in the Imperial database. That being said, you and your crew are being flagged for commandeering an unknown and unregistered vessel. Cease all operations and surrender the vessel."_

"Respectfully, I can't do that," I said. My weapon's operator signalled that our cannons were charged.

 _"And why is that?"_

"You want to know how I am a General? I'll tell you," I said. "The Rebellion sends its greetings."

The front of the _Resolute_ shone a brilliant blue as two energy beams flew towards the ISD.

The beams broke through the entire ship, but it wasn't critical enough to drain their power completely. We didn't need scanners to see what their status was. Green turbolaser fire flew straight at us and we barely raised shields in time for the fight.

"Redirect the A-wing units to deploy off our starboard hangar. We should be able to lower that part of the shield," I said. "Helm, get us between them and the freighter. Make sure nothing hits it!"

 _"Ezra, what are your orders?"_ Wedge asked.

"General, several TIEs inbound!"

"Wedge, I need you and your squad to defend the freighter. Everyone else, weapon's free on the enemy fighters," I replied.

"Ezra, those TIEs will try to take out our repair craft on that freighter," Sabine said.

"I know. Are we able to return fire?"

"No. We're putting all we have into our shields, but they won't last. Especially with all those TIEs," Sabine replied.

"Call for reinforcements," I said.

"We should be able to fire our manual cannons, sir," the weapon operator explained.

"Get the gun crews to their stations, then, and make sure those guns are switched from auto to manual."

"Yes sir!"

I looked out to our starboard side and watched as a wing of T-65 X-wings and two wings of A-wings flew past the bridge.

"General, we're almost between the ISD and the freighter!"

 _"Ezra, the freighter captain is reporting that they've been flagged by the Empire for collusion with us,"_ Wedge said.

"Tell him to finish his repairs quickly! Comm, reopen that Imperial channel."

"You're on, sir!"

"Attention ISD _Resilient_ , We are aware that you've flagged this freighter for collusion. Yes, we are rebels, but that freighter has nothing to do with us!"

 _"You should have thought of that before you decided to help them, rebel scum!"_

"Those people are innocent!"

The sound of the comms being cut off echoed through the bridge.

"Sir?"

I watched in horror as a swarm of TIE fighters simply ignored my fighters and started firing on the defenseless freighter.

"Sir?"

The TIEs were getting shot down, but there were too many.

"Ezra!"

I turned and found Sabine staring at me.

"What are your orders?" she asked.

I looked back at the freighter, then at the ISD, clenching my fist.

"Launch all remaining fighters. Call for reinforcements."

"Transmitting distress beacon!"

"Power levels restored, General! Auto cannons are charged and ready!"

"Fire all batteries on the ISD. All point defense lasers on the fighters, but stay clear of friendlies," I ordered. "All fighters engage the enemy!"

The Nav computer beeped rapidly and two more ISDs dropped out of hyperspace next to the first one, along with a smaller fleet of 6 escort cruisers.

"Looks like they're bringing back the Arquitens," Sabine muttered.

"Our design is better armed than theirs," I reminded her.

"General, more ships dropping out of hyperspace behind us!" Nav shouted.

 _Our reinforcements are here_.

A _Legacy-_ class 'S'SD, the _Reclamation_ , and about 4 of our own _Arquitens_ \- class light cruisers appeared around us, all of them immediately opening fire on the nearest target.

 _"Resolute, this is Reclamation. What's the plan here?"_

"Protect that freighter, Admiral. There are fighters everywhere."

"I might have an idea," Sabine said. "If we combine our point defense and flak screens, we could provide an impenetrable anti-starfighter barrier. Any TIEs caught inside the screen can be taken down by our own fighters."

 _"Would that work?"_ Bastian asked.

"One way to find out. I want our light cruisers to provide armed escort to that freighter. All capital ships, use your point defense and create a flak screen."

 _"General, their hyperdrive is almost repaired. They're going to leave as soon as it's done,"_ Wedge said.

"No objections from me," I said.

"Ezra," Sabine said. "The flak screen is up." She pointed to right in front of us at the wall of blue flying past us. Many of the rounds were exploding as well, ensuring that nothing got through.

Most of the TIE fighters caught in the flak screen disintegrated, and none was spared of any damage, apparently. The smoke trails told me enough about their status. I looked back at the freighter and saw our fighters around it, along with our light cruisers, cleaning up any Imperial fighters that couldn't make it out in time.

"Sir, another ship is dropping out of hyperspace behind the Imperial line!"

I looked out the front in time to see an _Executor_ -class Super Star Destroyer appear.

"All ships, evade! _Legacy_ , I need you to engage that ISSD at long range!" I ordered.

I could feel the guns from our _Legacy_ firing at the ISSD, but it was too late. The Imperial star dreadnought fired everything at our own SSD and started to tear it apart. I could literally see their shields failing.

"They're not going to last long under that barrage!" Sabine exclaimed.

"None of us are," I muttered. "Wedge, how's that freighter!"

 _"They only need another two minutes."_

"We'll all be dead in two minutes!"

A loud, yet muffled _BOOM_ was heard and we all watched as the _Legacy_ split in half before exploding.

"Kriff..." Sabine muttered.

"We need more reinforcements!" my xo exclaimed.

"No... we need to get out of here," I said.

"We can't abandon the freighter!" Sabine countered.

"We're not," I said. "Give me a channel to that freighter."

"You're on."

"Freighter, you need to get that hyperdrive repaired or none of us are going to be here," I said as calmly as I could.

 _"I know, I just saw what happened. We're doubling our efforts. Just give us one minute!"_

"Do your subspace engines work?"

 _"Yeah, why?"_

I ran to a console and transmitted coordinates to every ship in my fleet. "I need everybody to move to these coordinates. Head there at full burn."

All ships responded and began to move to the designated coordinates, except for ours. I ordered _Resolute_ to head somewhere else at flank speed.

...

"All enemy ships are holding position. They've lost most of their fighters and a cruiser, but we were unable to take down one of their SDs," Bastian said through a holo transmission.

"Just get ready to jump out," I said to the rest of the fleet. I set the _Resolute_ and _Reclamation_ out of Imperial gun range.

"Ezra, our BACs are ready to fire. Just give the word," Sabine said.

" _Reclamation_ , we're about to fire," I said.

"Copy that. Imperial fleet closing on our location. The SSD is heading right for us."

"Exactly as planned," I said.

 _"Ezra, the cruisers have reached us and our own are holding them back, but those ISDs are almost within weapons range. Whatever you're planning you gotta do it fast,"_ Wedge said.

"Wedge, the _Resolute_ will be under comm silence for a few moments. Until we get our systems back up, the _Reclamation_ will coordinate your movements. Understand?" Sabine said.

 _"Understood, General."_

"We're ready, Ezra. Fire away," Bastian said.

"Fire BACs, full power," I ordered.

Immediately, the viewscreen polarized as all power levels dropped. The only power we can spare is life support and artificial gravity, but lights, guns, engines, comms, and shields will be offline. The front of the _Resolute_ started to glow from all the power building up in the forward cannons and a few seconds passed until two large balls of energy began building up at the ends of the cannons. Not even 5 seconds later, the entire ship shook at the force of the shot and two massive beams flew at the ISSD faster than the average turbolaser. We couldn't even see the enemy ship until the lights faded. The viewscreen depolarized, and I, along with the rest of the bridge crew, and probably everybody else in the fleet, watched as the Imperial _Executor_ was dotted with several internal explosions before completely exploding. Debris flew in every direction and the _Reclamation_ started firing at anything that got close to my ship.

I glanced at Sabine and she at me.

"Thoughts?" I asked.

"That... This was the first time we've used full power before... right?"

"Yeah..." I said. I glanced at everybody on the bridge, everybody wearing the same expression of shock and fear.

"What does this all mean, sir? I mean, we just one-shot an Imperial Super!" my XO said.

"I think we have the most powerful warship in the galaxy..." I said.

"Think?" Sabine asked.

"Sir, power is charging. Auxiliary power restored, comms back online. Thrusters, shields, and weapons are still offline."

"Open a channel to the fleet," I said.

"You're on."

"Admiral Narada, Commander Wedge," I began. "Anybody read me?"

 _"We hear you General. That was one hell of a light show,_ " Wedge joked.

 _"Ezra, the enemy fleet was destroyed with the SSD. Any ships that did survive likely jumped out. We won,"_ Bastian said.

"We actually defeated an Imperial Super..." Sabine said.

"I can't believe it," I agreed.

 _"You lot just charge your reactors. We'll cover you."_

"What about the rest of our fleet?" I asked.

"They all made it out. The freighter saw the shot and jumped out right as the ISSD was about to explode," Bastian said.

"Sir, minimal power to our engines are restored."

"Keep us still," Sabine said. "We don't want to use anything, yet."

"How long until full recharge?" I asked.

"About 30 minutes, sir."

"Wedge, is that freighter safe?"

 _"It jumped out, sir."_

"I mean is it safe?"

 _A few moments passed before Wedge returned to our frequency. "They're alright. They met up with some friends of theirs in Wild Space."_

"Good. Helm, as soon as we have hyperspace capability again, get us out of here," I said.

...

About 4 hours later, we arrived back at Epsilon Station to find the _Millenium Falcon_ docked in one of the hangars. Since there's been so much activity in those hangars lately, larger warships like the _Resolute_ can no longer dock inside. Instead, we use the external docking ports on the side of the station. We docked to the station and Sabine and I made our way to the Command Center, along with Bastian and Wedge.

"I'm surprised to see the Falcon here," Wedge said. "He should've been out on his own by now."

"He should," I agreed.

"I wonder what's keeping him here," Bastian said.

"We should find out soon," Sabine muttered.

"Maybe he just got back? Or maybe refueling?" I suggested.

"Unlikely. I didn't see any fuel lines from the Falcon," Bastian said.

We opened the door to the command center and was surprised to see Han talking to Hera.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Hera asked him.

"I don't think I have much of a choice now," Han replied. He looked like he was about to continue, but we seemed to catch his eye, making him pause for a moment. Hera looked in our direction and we approached.

"Ezra, Sabine. How was the op?" she asked.

"The freighter reported safe," I said. "And..."

"I'll give you the report once I have it finished," Bastian said.

"Very well, Admiral," Hera sighed. "Before any of you leave, there's something we need to discuss."

...

 **A/N: I went farther in this chapter than I originally wanted to, but I also didn't want to stop writing. Guess this chapter ends with this.**

 **I found a picture of a station made in a game called StarMade (Owner is unknown, but all credit to him/her) that I think would better show what Epsilon Station would look like. I'm terrible at describing things so I use pictures. My email was placed in earlier chapters, around the time the officer's uniforms were introduced (Chapter 7: Weapons Depot). If you'd like to see the general idea of this station, feel free to email me.**


	19. Three Risky Shots

**Chapter 19**

 **...**

 **Location: Epsilon Station**

 **System: Mostly unexplored/unknown**

 **Date in Time: 4 ABY, Month 6, Day 24**

 **...**

The repairs on the _Resolute_ were almost finished. Apparently, a the full power shot from our BACs caused a major structural strain. Further tests are scheduled with the BACs after the repairs are finished. The damage wasn't extensive, fortunately, but Hera ordered it be investigated.

Sabine was curious about the whole thing and volunteered to lead the investigation and tests. She's usually busy for over 12 hours every day, but that doesn't seem to bother her in the slightest.

As for me, I've been training a lot. Lifting weights, using my lightsaber and blaster pistol, reading reports from other units. I always forget that I'm one of the top generals so I have to read some reports. The other guys in Command spoke rumors that we're close to each leading our own separate fleets and battalions. Which means we'd be free to operate away from headquarters and spread out. Of course, we need to construct and establish outposts, but the resources for such outposts are in high demand. The markets are too risky and the black market can't keep up the demands. Of course, there are stations for sale out there and there are a few we're looking to buy. We have Han looking into it right now, apparently.

 _Flashback..._

...

"Han Solo has requested that we allow him to support us in any way he can," Hera said.

"He's with us again?" I asked.

"Not exactly. He still doesn't want to join the cause, but he has agreed to finish assignments for us," Hera explained. "Of course, with a price involved."

"Great," Sabine muttered.

"He can get us what we need," Hera said. "One way or another."

"We'll see," I said. "I don't exactly like him, either."

"Who we like or don't like doesn't matter in war, Ezra," Rex said. "I'm with Hera on this."

"I never said I was against her," I said.

"He's getting ready to leave on his own again, but he has been told to expect a new assignment soon," Hera said.

I nodded and we were dismissed from debriefing.

... _End Flashback_

 _..._

I heard a beep from the far wall and approached its source: a small, wall mounted comm panel. I pressed the button and spoke into the mic.

"Bridger here. What's up?"

 _"Sir, the repairs are completed. You have been ordered to your post by investigation order..."_

"I know the order, you don't need to repeat it every time you contact me!" I groaned. It was one of the new engineers we picked up yesterday, and it was no secret that he really likes protocol, which sets off a red flag in my gut.

"I'm on my way down, just let me get cleaned up over here."

 _"Yes sir! I'll notify General Wren."_

I released the button on the panel and picked up my water bottle. Since training today was canceled so people can rest, I figured I could spend my day training instead. I guess those plans are out the airlock.

I walked to the showers and cleaned up before heading to the hangar, pinning my rank to my uniform while walking.

As I turned a corner, I accidentally ran into someone and the pin went into my chest a bit, making me yelp.

"I'm so sorry, General..." the ensign apologized.

She was clearly frightened by the fact that she just walked into a general.

"It's fine. It was just a pin," I said, yanking out the pin from my shirt and reapplying it. It didn't get stuck in my skin, and the needle is too small to do any real damage.

"I'm obligated to go through any discipline needed for this," the ensign said.

"That isn't necessary. Where were you headed?"

"Just to the mess, sir."

I smiled and pointed down the other hallway. "Mess is that way."

She looked embarrassed, "It is? I was told it was this way."

"Who said that?"

"Some male recruits."

I shook my head, "Don't pay much attention to them. They're just pulling your leg."

"Okay. Thank you, sir!"

The ensign ran down the hall towards the Mess and I continued making my way towards the hangar.

When I got there, I could see the _Resolute_ docked outside the shield, looking all brand new. Something was different with the bottom of the hull, though; there were two more ventral turbolaser batteries were installed. Somebody tapped on my shoulder and I turned to see Tenith, the Mandalorian engineer we rescued a little over a year ago.

"She's just getting better," he said, referring to my warship.

"Do you have the report of the damage?" I asked.

"There wasn't much. Few holes in the hull, a decent breach, etc. Nothing too bad."

"Good. Where's Sabine?"

"She's already in the bridge, sir," he replied, pointing to my ship.

"Thanks, Tenith," I said before making my way to the airlock.

The hangars are on four sides of the station, one on each side, with a curved bridge connecting the four of them. The bridge is lined with airlocks, the spaces between one hangar to the next alongside the bridge allowing several smaller ships like cruisers and frigates or corvettes, or 1-2 capital ships, if docked properly. A broadside dock would fill up pretty much all the space while docking from the bow would open up room for another capital ship of the same size, but just barely.

The airlock doors of the _Resolute_ opened and I was met with the door guards.

"General on deck!" one of them shouted, and everyone on the deck snapped to attention.

"At ease," I said.

I began walking to the turbolifts and soon found myself on the bridge. The same thing as the airlock happened when I walked through the doors.

"General on deck!"

Boots clicked on the freshly polished floors and arms were stiff at the crew's sides.

I sighed in slight annoyance. "At ease."

I scanned the room and found Sabine standing next to the holo table.

"So, what did you need me for?" I asked, approaching the table.

"We're about to run a test fire of the BACs at full power. Considering the details of our last battle with the Empire, I have an idea of how our structure was strained," she said quickly.

"We're doing a live-fire test, correct?"

"Correct. We're only going to be firing to empty space this time. We ran out of asteroids and cargo containers."

I glanced over to her and saw her smile.

It took me a few moments to realize that she was referring to the last time we did a live-fire test of a capital ship back when _Resolute_ was still a Venator-class.

"Ha ha," I said sarcastically. "Don't you think we should set something up to measure the power of the shot?"

"I thought of that, but you forget that we one shot a fully powered _Executor_ a few days ago. I doubt anything could survive the blast."

"Except maybe the Death Star," I muttered.

"That thing's the size of a moon," Sabine began. "I doubt we could ever one shot that thing."

"Generals, we're ready," the tactical officer began. "All stations are locked down and secure. Command is giving us the green light to proceed."

Sabine nodded and pressed her index finger on the comm panel of the holo table.

"Admiral, you ready for another light show?" she asked.

Bastian's voice cut into the room just a second later. _"Ready as we'll ever be. Just try not to hit anything by mistake, there's a new shipment of supplies from Kuat later today so we should fire away from the hyperspace route."_

"Good idea, I never would have thought of that," Sabine said, the sarcasm in her voice was clear as ever.

Bastian was chuckling on the other side of the frequency, clearly amused at Sabine's annoyed state.

"Let's get this over with. I need a break!" she said to me.

I nodded. "Helm, maneuvering thrusters. Get us away from the station."

The ship began shaking as the docking docking ports retracted and the tiny droids tasked with pushing us away from the station went to work. Two minutes later, we were given the green light for maneuvering thrusters and we pushed ourselves into open space.

"We're clear of the station, sir. Shall I engage our primary engines?" the helmsman asked.

"Yes. Get some distance between us and Epsilon," I said.

I watched as the station began to get smaller and before I knew it, we were in position. That's also when Sabine took over.

"Helm, hold here. Start charging the cannon."

I could hear the power dropping in several places, the artificial gravity was slightly weakened, the air support at minimal support levels, the lights were gone, engines offline, shields and weapons were all shut down. The viewscreen polarized and the front of the ship began to glow again.

 _"Final transmission, Resolute. Clear to fire."_

Finally, the comms were offline and we knew it was ready.

"Fire," Sabine said.

The ship shook as the front of _Resolute_ was engulfed in a bright blue death beam.

I started hearing something like an alarm and I looked towards Sabine. She was looking down at a datapad.

"What's that?" I asked, barely noticing the blue beam was fading.

"I placed independent sensors along the main structure of the ship where the strain was most effective. It detects the amount of force being applied to certain points."

"With that data, we can use a little number magic and find out how many shots the _Resolute_ can fire with the full power BAC," the xo said.

"Math... I hate math," I said.

"So do I, but I'm not the one doing it. I chose Tenith to look over the data and figure everything out so as soon as this is over, _Epsilon_ should send out tug droids to push up back to dock," Sabine said.

I looked out into open space and saw some smaller ships rushing towards us. "I think those droids are here."

Several fighters flew past the bridge alongside the tug droids. A shadow filled the bridge from my left and I looked and found _Reclamation_ taking position.

"How long until we have comms?" I asked the comm officer.

"About 15 to 20 minutes, sir."

"Alright. Sabine, what do you think right now?" I asked.

"I don't really know the specifics, obviously, but if I had to guess from the stress on the structure... these readings are more than we anticipated," she said, but she seemed worried.

"I don't like the sound of that."

"I don't either," she said.

The ship began to shudder a bit as the tugging droids caught us in several tractor beams and began pulling and pushing _Resolute_ towards the dock. I started to think about just random things like home and times before Yavin when a voice cut into my thoughts.

"Gravity generators back to normal."

"Already?" I asked.

"It's been 5 minutes," Sabine said. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"You haven't talked in the past 6 minutes. You're usually always talking," she said.

"I'm fine. I was just thinking."

"About?"

"Nothing important..." I said, looking away.

Sabine was silent for a few moments before she grabbed my wrist and pulled me out of the bridge.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

She stopped and let go of my hand, turning around to face me.

"I can tell when you're lying, you know," she said.

I looked away, but I felt her hands on my face and she made me face her.

"Alright," I sighed. "I was just thinking about before Yavin. Thinking about my home."

The worry grew inside Sabine. I wasn't trying to probe her, either. She's not very good at mentally hiding her emotions. Physically it's impossible if she tries, but her mental barriers just about collapsed. Any force sensitive being would be able to read her thoughts. I don't just out of respect.

"That was a long time ago... we lost a lot of good people, but look what we have now?"

"It's not enough," I said. "They'll just bring the Death Star in at every major battle."

"They didn't a few days ago," she said. "I'd say that's major enough for me."

She let go of my face, but didn't look away.

She also had a good point. Taking down an _Executor_ was not an easy thing to do. We've theorized kamikaze attacks to a bridge could knock out everything and disable the ship at least, but that idea really would make us terrorists, not to mention we couldn't just sacrifice whatever men and women we didn't have.

"Ezra... we destroyed an _Executor_ \- class super star destroyer in one shot. We have two _Avenger_ ships and a third on the way pretty soon. We can do this. I can promise you that everybody we've lost would not have died in vain. We have been given a second chance at fighting the Empire, and I will not throw it away."

"I wasn't suggesting that you do, believe me, I'm not done, either."

"We'll free your homeworld again."

"What about yours?"

Sabine smiled, "I'm sure they can fight back for a while. Martial law or not, we've always pulled through."

I smiled a little and nodded.

"Now... we should get back to the bridge."

...

 _"Generals Wren and Bridger, Chief Engineer Tenith, Admiral Narada, report to Command."_

I looked right at Sabine and she back at me. Then I turned to the left and found Tenith catching up to us, Bastian behind him.

"What's going on?"

"We're about to find out," I said.

We were standing outside of Hera's office, waiting for her to let us in.

The doors opened and we stepped inside to a mostly dark room.

"Hera?" Sabine asked.

"Lock the doors," she said. "Whatever information we have about these tests, they must stay secret."

"What's going on?"

"Security. Only my top officers should be allowed to see this."

"So... what's with the dark room?"

"Figured it would be a nice touch."

Just another part of Hera's humor, I guess.

"Tenith, did you finish those calculations?" I asked him.

"Yes sir," he replied. He pulled out a data chip and plugged it into the holo table.

"The data from the full power shot was a complete shock to us. The dampeners did their job well, but not as well as we anticipated," he continued.

"What does that mean?" Hera asked.

"I've run simulations off the data. One shot without repairs is fine, with little to no consequences. The second shot would see power fluctuations and random loss of power in several systems. The intervals are random. I've tried tracking and predicting which systems would fall, but it was no use."

"So if we fire a second full power shot, we could lose several systems?" Sabine asked.

"Only temporarily. They should theoretically be able to be brought back, but it could fail again. Other systems are likely to fail if one is repaired."

"Sounds like the power reactors would be damaged," Sabine said.

"A little, yes."

"What about the third shot?" I asked.

"Out of 5 simulations with three shots in a row, 3 of them had moderate structural damage. Systems would be permanently knocked offline and almost unrepairable. The fourth shot... the reactors would overload before we would ever make a fourth shot."

I looked at Sabine and Bastian and both of them looked worried.

"So we only have 3 total shots?" Bastian asked.

"Barely. Each shot would be a bit weaker, but would still pack quite a punch," Tenith replied.

"You said something about 3 out of 5 simulations," I began. "What happened to the other two?"

"Ma'am?" Tenith asked Hera, who nodded.

Tenith tapped about on the datapad and a simulation appeared on the holotable.

The holographic _Avenger_ -class star destroyer took a third shot, but something seemed to go horribly wrong. The entire front of the ship was instantly disintegrated, leaving half of it floating into space, completely dead.

"That was originally the second simulation. Here's the only one I've done with a fourth shot..."

The new simulation showed something starting off similar, but the hull looked breached and there were fires dotting the ship. Yet it was firing a fourth shot. Instead of going forward, the beam seemed to fire backwards into the ship, tearing it apart before it finally exploded into several large pieces.

"Kriff..." Sabine muttered.

"My thoughts exactly," Bastian said.

"So..." I began, "Three shots is the max?"

"With the massive amount of power surging through a ship that size, the damage would be extensive. The 5th simulation with the 3rd shot showed the ship was still intact, but almost nothing worked. I estimate it's a 50/50 chance of losing the ship, or just barely surviving," Tenith said.

"The greatest weapon the Rebellion has is also our greatest risk," Hera said.

"What about it's production?" Sabine asked.

"Production must go on," Hera said, "but the ship's captains must know the risks. Under no circumstances must you fire full power without a fleet to protect you, and most certainly not a third. I'm afraid there's no time to design a new warship like this."

"However," Tenith began. "I looked over the data from that shot you guys took at that last battle. Our ships still seem relatively unreliable for anti starfighter defense without the capital's support."

"I thought they did a great job!" I said.

"They did an incredible job, don't get me wrong, but as they focused on the fighters, they were left vulnerable for the enemy cruisers. I'm currently designing a new ship to cover with that. Pretty basic and cost affordable, but supposed to be even more effective."

"Do you have a ship class in mind?" Hera asked him.

"I was thinking more of a destroyer, but everything else is still being planned out. I have my top guys working on it as we speak," he said.

"I'm looking forward to seeing it," Sabine said.

"We all are," Hera said.

"If there's something the old Republic didn't do well," Bastian said, "Was have different kinds of ships. Early in the war they only had the Acclamators and the Venators. Later on they brought in the Arquitens."

"Even then there still wasn't a lot of diversity," Hera agreed. "We're keeping the _Avenger_ star destroyers as one class of battleships. _Legacy_ , judging by the reports, would not have the title of super star destroyer. Just another star destroyer."

"So we have two star destroyer classes, so far one light cruiser, a single corvette class..." Sabine said. "I think that's about it."

"What about that star dreadnought you three found when we first received the _Legacy_ class?" Hera asked.

"That's one of a kind. Only Kristinal has it. I doubt he'd take it anywhere else than his shipyard in the Rishi Maze. Station defenses and that star dreadnought are the only reasons he's still there," I said.

"That being said, that's off the table," Sabine concluded.

"Very well."

...

Roughly 30 minutes after our briefing about the BAC limits for our star destroyers, I found myself standing in the star bridge connecting the hangars, staring at the _Resolute_ as it gets some more repairs done. Docked next to her was the _Reclamation_ , with a swarm of maintenance droids dotting her hull as well. Pieces of the _Reclamation_ 's hull was removed to enable easy weapon and shield maintenance, but that clearly leaves the two warships vulnerable to attack. Of course, we're not too worried about an Imperial attack on Epsilon Station, especially since we're outside the galaxy.

I started thinking about the day Sabine and I, along with the CR90 crew, found this station and couldn't recall ever seeing the galaxy. I guess we were just so mesmerized by the discovery that we failed to notice the shining collection of countless star systems behind our position. But then something else started to bother me: we found this station because of a beacon, but we never officially discovered the source of the signal. It disappeared after we showed up.

 _What was the source of that beacon?_

I was so caught up in my thoughts, I didn't notice somebody walking up to me until their hand was on my shoulder.


	20. First Contact

**Chapter 20**

I jumped a bit and turned to the person standing next to me.

"Hey, you alright?"

 _Sabine._

 _How long has she been there? And why didn't I sense her presence?_

She stared at me and I realized I hadn't answered her question.

"Yeah, I'm just thinking about something," I said, turning back to the _Resolute_.

I didn't have to look at Sabine to know that she was frowning at me. "Ezra, if it's about your homeworld..."

"Actually, it's not," I said. I turned around and leaned against the wall, looking right at Sabine.

She seemed to take the hint and also leaned against the wall next to me, ready to listen.

"Remember that day we found this station? How we got here?"

She nodded, "Yeah, as if it happened yesterday. Why?"

"Haven't you ever wondered how that beacon was activated? Or even where the source was?"

"It was probably from this station. Maybe the Force just wanted us to find it," she said, crossing her arms.

"That's not it. The Force doesn't just activate a non-existing beacon. Also, the station didn't have any power online when we found it. Life support and artificial gravity, everything was down," I said. I could see the wheels beginning to spin in Sabine's head.

"Whatever that beacon was, somebody set it on our frequency on purpose. Somebody meant for us to find this place and rebuild," I said then.

"But the real question is: who was it?" Sabine asked.

"I don't know... Anybody that just happened to find this place by some accident would have reported it to the Empire," I said.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Sabine asked me.

"Investigation?" I asked her, just trying to be clear that we are on the same page.

Her smile was the answer I needed and I nodded. "Alright! Where should we begin?"

"I... don't know... we've scanned this entire area thoroughly so we know there's nothing out there," she said, glancing out past the warships towards empty space. The only things past _Resolute_ were _Arquitens_ cruisers on a security perimeter plus a few CR90s patrolling areas farther out.

I looked away from Sabine and towards the open hangar doors to my right. The curvature of the deck was clearly evident, but I could still see a few engineers and ships.

"We could split up and look for clues," I said.

"What are you thinking?" she asked.

I turned back towards her and stood up straight from the wall. "You search the entire station, get a team to help you out as well, while I take a small team and search out there." I cocked my head towards space.

"Ezra, there's nothing out there," she said.

"Maybe there's something we missed. Remember, we were too excited with our find, it's entirely possible we didn't go through _all_ our scanning frequencies," I pointed out.

Sabine's mouth was open, as if she was about to say something else, but then she quickly shut her jaw and seemed to think.

"Okay you have a point. I'll run up to Hera and get official clearance," she said then.

...

 **Location: Epsilon Station**

 **System: Epsilon (Mostly unexplored)**

 **Date: 4 ABY, Month 6, Day 28**

...

We didn't get everything set up to officially investigate the origin of the beacon until two days later. Hera agreed to the idea from the start, but didn't decide what to do about it until the next day. From there, it took another day to assign research teams to different parts of the station. Sabine was in charge of all the research teams on board Epsilon Station, while I was in charge of everything in space. Bastian volunteered to help out with the space investigation, but Rex recommended his fleet remain on combat duty. By now, the _Reclamation_ was finished with it's monthly maintenance, but _Resolute_ was still undergoing trials to determine if she was ready for military combat again.

I had access to whatever ship I needed, even though I technically already had that clearance. All the CR90 corvettes we had were assigned to my research team, with our light cruisers acting as security. Apparently, Mon Mothma's final order would still stand, with a little modification by Hera. Not only would ships not be allowed to operate alone, but there must be at least two combat ships in every three or four ship fleet. In this case, our research teams would consist of three ships: the _Arquitens_ light cruisers being our combat vessels and our CR90 corvettes being used for research. Since we have a lot more light cruisers than corvettes, it was the only reasonable choice. Currently, we don't have a lot of diversity with our navy, which is why Tenith was designing a new ship. He mentioned it was a destroyer class, or is supposed to be. The size and power of the vessel is still unknown to everybody, but we do know it's primary role is for anti starfighter defense.

I read over the briefing on my data pad as I walked into the hangar and found the ships assigned under my personal command: Arquitens light cruisers _Harbinger_ and _Arbiter_ , and the solo CR90 corvette _Cormorant_.

I've read the reports about _Harbinger_ and her missions. She's basically the _Resolute_ among the Arquitens-class cruisers. Another living legend, though this one made a lot more recently.

"General on deck!"

I looked at the crew standing at attention on the bridge of the _Harbinger_ and nodded.

"At ease, everyone. Status report!"

Immediately, the ship's captain approached and read off a data pad of the ship's status.

"Sounds like everything's ready," I said.

"Yes sir, we're just waiting for your orders," the ship captain said.

"Then let's get moving, shall we?"

"Yes sir!"

I nodded to the comm officer, signalling her to start the undocking process.

"Epsilon Tower this is _Harbinger_ requesting clearance for departure."

 _"Harbinger, Epsilon Tower; permission granted. Maneuvering thrusters towards departure lanes. Watch for droids or other spacecraft. Fly safe."_

The Tower operator was heard clearly throughout the bridge and the helmsman directed the ship towards the departure lane set up on the right side of the hangar.

I remember when we set up this system after a communication mishap 6 months ago. A returning corvette nearly collided with a brand new Arquitens light cruiser, but the helmsman overcorrected and crashed into a pile of supply crates and a handful of starfighters. It was a disaster. The hangar was shut down for almost two weeks. Fortunately, nobody was seriously injured, but the corvette crew was still sent to medical for fractures, breaks, concussions, and other things like that. Nothing in terms of internal bleeding, head trauma, death, etc.

We slowly burned out of the hangar and floated in position outside the station for the other two ships: the Arquitens light cruiser _Arbiter_ , and the CR90 corvette _Cormorant._

"Sir, the _Arbiter_ and _Cormorant_ report ready," the comm officer reported.

I nodded and relayed our vectors to the helmsman of every ship and we got underway.

" _Cormorant,_ begin your scans. Use every frequency we have."

"Sir, what exactly are we looking for again?"

"Anything of use... any clues of the origin of the beacon that brought us here in the first place," I said.

"I thought we've already scanned down our area," the captain stated.

"I thought so, too, but it's possible we were too excited to be thorough," I said.

"Yes sir," the captain said.

Two hours passed, but we didn't find anything. Within these two hours, Hera permitted our search expanded throughout the entire system.

"It's a great opportunity to fully explore this system," she said to both me and Sabine during our briefing.

I looked outside the viewscreen into space, the screen itself slightly polarized to counter the sunlight just off our starboard side.

"Sir, we're being hailed from inside Epsilon Station," the comm officer said to me. "It's General Wren. She says it's an emergency."

"Transfer the call to my quarters," I said, turning around and walking into my room.

Sabine appeared on the desk and she seemed concerned about something.

"Sabine," I simply said, standing at the edge of the desk.

"Ezra, something's come up over here and it's important that only the captain the his XO know about this," she said quickly.

"Understood, what is it?"

"We've just been contacted by Kuat. The Empire's started cracking down on their operations to send us new vessels and resources. Our spies there claim that almost half of our supporters have already been turned in to the Empire for questioning," she explained.

"So we won't be getting any more shipments that way," I said, heavily disturbed by the news. "Does Hera know?"

"She's the one who told me, but she's too busy with that problem so she wanted me to relay the news. All of Central knows as well as ship captains and starfighter squad leaders."

"Good thing Kuat wasn't our only resource supplier," I said.

"No, but they were our main supplier. Sixty percent of all our resources came from them."

"I know, I know. I'll... see what I can do out here."

"These people know our location, Ezra," she said then.

I froze.

"We'll be calling off our search?" I asked.

"I don't believe so. We're currently preparing a corvette with civilian credentials to investigate on its own, though. If anything was to happen, we can't be traced to it. As soon as they return to known systems, they'll need to wipe the coordinates off their nav computers."

"What about ship production?" I asked.

"We'll need to gather some resources ourselves for the most part, but Vizago said he'll do his best to contribute,," she said.

"What about Han?"

Her silence told me that he doesn't know.

"Okay so I take it we're not going to tell him?"

"He's persuasive, I'll give him that, but he can be easily bought," Sabine said.

I shrugged, "Good point."

"But besides that point, we still need to save those Kuat engineers," Sabine said.

"How?" I asked. "Kuat is basically a fortress. The only reason we were able to get past their defenses and scanners the first time was because there was a solar flare."

Sabine stayed quiet for a few moments. "Well... yeah I suppose."

"I'm bringing everyone back," I began, but Sabine interrupted me.

"Not yet. We don't have any intel on the situation other than they've been arrested."

"Then I'm coming back. If your side of the investigation is on hold, then mine is, too!"

"Ezra..." Sabine started, but I ignored her and pressed the comm button. I told the captain to return me to the station. The captain asked what the rest of the fleet should do.

I looked up to Sabine's holographic face and sighed, once again pressing the comm button, "Keep up the search until further notice."

...

"It's too soon," Hera said. "We're not prepared for any kind of assault on Kuat. I'm afraid they're going to have to take their chances. After all, they do not know the exact coordinates of Epsilon."

"The rendezvous would be considered compromised, nevertheless," Rex said. "We'll need to find a new manufacturer for our ships."

"I doubt anybody would volunteer," Kanan said.

"Corellia would probably help, but the Empire's always been breathing down their necks. They can't sell us ships or donate them directly to us. They'll need to get them onto the black market and we'll get them there," Zeb said.

"Almost like the old days, but now it's going to be much harder to get them on it," Sabine said. "We'd be better off building our own for a while... but we wouldn't last long then."

"Sabine's right," I said. "We simply don't have the resources or the manpower to build a fleet for very long."

"We'll need to figure out where we can buy large amounts of resources. We can keep stealing from the Empire like this if we're going to make progress," Kanan agreed.

"I still have the _Harbinger_ and all my other ships scanning for everything. We might be able to find an asteroid field somewhere... or maybe a planet," I said.

"We've already scanned for asteroids," Hera said. "But not planets. Seems we haven't really put claim to this system after all."

"What about Maridun? We already have a base established there, right?" Zeb asked.

"I doubt they'd want us mining resources," Sabine said, frowning at the Lasat.

"We can ask Kristinal if he could construct other ships other than the Legacy as well, but there's no guarantee that he'll do that," I said.

"We need a planet to establish a permanent base. This station is great, but we need something more. I doubt this station was meant to be a full on headquarters for a military."

"Judging by the massive hangar bays and the information logs, it wasn't," Sabine said. "It's primary function is a shipyard, but it is more than capable to act as headquarters."

"When was the last time everybody has stepped foot on a planet since we found this station?" Hera asked.

"Well there was us," I began, "and everybody else with the _Resolute_. But other than us, not a lot."

"Exactly," Hera said. "Ezra, tell the _Harbinger_ to begin long range scans for a suitable planet. I don't care if it's in this very system or if there's another unmapped system nearby."

"I'll call them as soon as we're done here," I said.

"No, immediately," Hera said. She didn't sound upset, but was urgent with the request.

"Alright." I stepped to the side a little and activated the station's comm panel. " _Harbinger,_ Epsilon. Change of orders, you are to begin long range scans for any suitable planet."

 _"In system only, sir?"_

"Anywhere that's close and away from Imperial eyes," I said. "If there's one in this system, so be it."

 _"Yes sir! We're on it! Harbinger, out!"_

...

 **Location: High Orbit over Unknown World**

 **System: Unknown**

 **Date: 4 ABY, Month 7, Day 4**

 **...**

I walked into the _Resolute's_ bridge and immediately heard a lot of chatter throughout the bridge. I scanned the bridge and found Sabine hovering over the holotable.

"Sitrep!" I called.

"Whatever the _Harbinger_ found, it's definitely of unknown origin," Sabine said, not looking up from the table. I stepped closer to the table and saw what she was looking at: another, seemingly abandoned shipyard, however this wasn't like Epsilon station, but more like a large chunk of Kuat's shipyard ring floating in stable orbit. Of course, it wasn't Kuat's ship ring and it wasn't in visual range just yet. But that wasn't what all the chatter was about...

I could sense it.

"Sir, we're coming within visual range!"

"Slow the ship, quarter speed," I said.

Suddenly, the comms burst to life with static. Inside the static, there was a voice.

 _"Unidentified vessel. State your purpose or we will retaliate!"_

"Open a channel!" I snapped.

Comm nodded at me.

"This is General Ezra Bridger of the NRSS _Resolute_. We didn't mean to alarm you or any of your people. We only wished to find a planet to set our own on."

 _"What is that supposed to mean? What is 'NRSS'?"_

"New Rebellion Starship, sir..."

 _"Rebels?"_

I turned to Sabine and muttered, "Guess the secret's out." I focused my attention back to the comms. "Yes, Rebels. We just needed a new base and thought this system was empty. We'll be on our way and leave you be if that's what you want."

Sabine pulled me to the side, "What are you doing?" she hissed. "This could be a good chance to establish new allies and a new base!"

I only winked at her as the voice cut into the room again.

 _"I've heard rumors of the Rebellion rising again, but I need more proof!"_

"If I show you more proof, what would you do? Who are you?" I asked then.

 _"We are the Terrans. We're shipbuilders."_

"Did you build for the Republic?"

 _"No. We were never of Republic or Imperial origin."_

"So a private corporation," I stated.

 _"In a way. We've been isolated from the galaxy for a while and nobody wanted us around, especially after the old Republic fell."_

"If I may ask, what kind of ships were you constructing?" I asked.

 _"Just some things to defend ourselves."_

"Defend from what?"

 _"Whoever you are, I must speak with your leader."_

"Comm, outbound transmission to Home. General Request, Priority One."

...

An hour later, a CR90 corvette with non-military markings appeared on grid and began flying towards the structure, along with several wings of X-wings and A-wings as a security escort.

"Launch our patrols," I said. "Secure the surrounding area."

The forward hangar doors opened and I watched 5 X-wings fly out and group up with a new ship. A CR90, fitted for reconnaissance, undocked from our ventral hangar and led the fighters to their designated patrol grids.

 _"Rebel 1 is making contact. Standby for docking."_

I began to listen in on the diplomat ship's status, waiting for any kind of hostile act. I quietly ordered our artillery cannons on standby on the unknown shipyard, primary turbolasers charged for anti warship combat, and point defense lasers ready for any starfighters or boarding craft, just in case.

 _"We made contact. So far no hostile acts detected."_


	21. A New Threat, Too Close to Home

**Chapter 21**

 **...**

 **Location: High Terran Orbit**

 **System: Corinth**

 **Date: 4 ABY, Month 7, Day 4**

 **Time: 2200 hrs**

 **...**

Three hours after first contact, reports came in that Hera was safely back aboard her ship, course set to Epsilon Station. _Resolute_ was ordered to remain at this place and provide defense. Somehow, some pirates managed to find the Terrans and constantly harass them for their resources and ships. The ships these people are building are supposed to combat them. I have my battle group here, but it's still not big. Just the Avenger-class star destroyer, a Legacy-class star destroyer, a few Arquitens cruisers, and some CR90 corvettes. Literally the same complement of ships that are able to dock onto the ship. Sabine went down to the hangar to personally assign our pilots to their patrol routes.

My corvettes are setting up long range scanners around the planet and the light cruisers are guarding the shipyards. I needed a place to hide my Legacy and the _Resolute_ , and just our luck, there's a secret hyperspace route that the pirates don't know about, leading to an abandoned mining asteroid that they've cleared out.

"Alright, I think we're set!" I said. "We'll deter these pirates best we can."

 _"We can't thank you guys enough!"_

"Don't thank us yet. We still have some pirates to deal with," I said.

 _"Of course. We've mapped out a rough schedule for their arrivals. They usually show up once a week, so they should be here later today, or sometime next rotation."_

"Acknowledged," I said. My comm officer redirected an incoming transmission to my console: the rough schedule of pirate attacks. "One thing's for sure, they're organized in when they attack... What does their fleet look like?"

 _"Usually some fighters and freighters, a couple frigates. Nothing major for you guys. I don't know if that's all they've got at their disposal, though."_

"Noted. We'll keep our Comms open." I pressed a button on my console and the captain of the _Harbinger_ appeared. "Captain, is everything ready?"

 _"Yes, sir. All ships reported green across the board. We'll let you know when they arrive."_

I nodded to the captain and ordered Nav to jump us to the abandoned mine.

After we entered hyperspace, it only took us 30 seconds to get to our position.

"That's not a long trip... Captain, do you hear me?"

 _"Loud and clear,_ General."

"As soon as you detect ships entering the system, we'll begin our jump," I said as the _Resolute_ turned around.

A couple hours later, we received a message of a handful of ships entering the system.

 _Our pirates have arrived._

I snapped my fingers and pointed to the Nav officer, who immediately jumped us to hyperspace. Thirty seconds later, when the blue faded, I saw a stand off between two armed freighters, a few outdated ARC 170 fighters, painted in black and orange, and four modified _Munificent_ -class frigates, also painted in black and orange.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my _Legacy_ jump in on the holotable, but I was focused on the new ships in front.

"Open our channels," I told Comm.

"Outbound channel open, sir."

"Attention unknown vessels. State your business here!"

 _"Who's asking?"_

"I'll be asking the questions here, understand?"

 _"I won't be answering any of yours until you answer mine. Who. Is. Asking?"_

"You are ordered to leave this system immediately, or you will be fired upon," I said, not willing to negotiate on this guy's terms.

 _"I'm not going anywhere without our share of the resources!"_

"Go find your resources somewhere else. You're not welcome here."

I heard Sabine say something about launching fighters and I looked to her, only to find she's staring at me, waiting for an answer.

"Launch the alert fighters. Keep all others on standby," I whispered to her. She nodded and ran over to the flight control console to relay the order quietly.

"You are outnumbered, and out gunned. I suggest you leave while you still can," I said.

The forward hangar doors opened and five X-Wings flew out. Five A-Wings followed soon after.

"Both Alert squadrons deployed," Sabine said quietly to me.

The pirates still refused to leave, saying they aren't leaving no matter what.

"So be it," I said, cutting off comms with the enemy ship. "Launch the rest of our fighters. Fire on the ships to disable."

Sabine turned back to her console, relaying the message.

The forward doors opened again and more fighters and some Y-Wing bombers flew out.

 _"General, any particular targets?"_ one of the wing leaders asked.

"I need all X-wings to engage the frigates. Knock out their weapons. A-wings, cover the bombers. Any fighters that get in your way, make sure they don't get a chance to get behind you. Bombing target is the hyperdrive on those freighters."

All wings reported ready and I gave the order to engage.

The captain of the _Legacy_ star destroyer requested orders.

"Block off their escape. Anything that gets close, use the tractor beams to create a web," I said. I could almost see the droid crew getting to their stations already. "Jam their transmissions. We won't be getting reinforcements for a time so neither will they."

I watched as out starfighters began knocking out ship armaments and enemy fighters, clearing the way for our fighters to the armed freighters.

The bridge was filled with battle chatter; fighters reporting another fighter or ship turbolaser battery destroyed, fighters calling out incoming fighters or that they've got one on their six, bombers reading out ETA until they can safely deploy their payloads on the freighters. I looked out past the battle and to our light cruisers holding position between the pirates and the Terran shipyard. I began to think about our resources for a second. We may still have shortages for resources, but ship production could still be increased if we keep up demands. Which means we'll need to go out and find suppliers.

Sabine snapped me out of my thoughts because she started calling for a report of the pirate's status.

"Their frigates weapon systems are offline, their shields are failing. All enemy fighters are dealt with and bombers are awaiting the green light to move in!" the XO said.

"The green light is given," Sabine said.

The flight coordinator started talking into his microphone, "Gold Squadron, you are cleared for EMP bombardment."

 _"Copy that, Resolute._ _We see our opening. Alright boys, let's get this done!"_

...

A couple hours had passed since the battle ended, but I was still amazed at the pirate's resilience to our interrogations. Whoever those guys were, they were a new group, but their members seemed experienced in this sort of thing.

I was sitting in my quarters, staring out into open space as we orbited the Terran homeworld, when I heard a chime at my door.

"Come in," I said, keeping my eyes on the stars.

I heard the door open, then close, and the sound of light footsteps echoed slightly in the open room.

"For a First Contact scenario, that was pretty interesting," I said.

I heard a quiet _mhm_ behind me.

I turned around and faced Sabine directly, "You alright?"

She nodded, "Yeah, just a little tired. Those pirates are giving me a headache."

"Really? You getting a headache?" I joked.

She glared at me, "Even Mandalorians can get headaches easily."

"I know, I was only joking," I said.

Sabine smiled softly, but it faded as fast as it appeared. "What's wrong?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're tell is showing... what are you thinking about?" she asked me.

"I was thinking about our new allies... They have their planet and resources to build ships... but we still need more suppliers."

Sabine nodded, "I agree, but for now I think we're okay. We'll find some more suppliers sooner or later."

"The sooner the better," I said. "What did you find from those pirates?"

"How did you know that they talked?" she asked. "The Force?"

"No, I just know you would make them talk," I said, grinning.

"Right," she smiled. "Most of them were persistent in keeping quiet, but there were a few that broke. One of them in particular mentioned that they've been building a fleet of their own."

"A pirate fleet? Did he say what ships they're using?"

"As a matter of fact, he did. They've been commandeering Imperial training ships lately. The type of ship, however, is familiar to us."

She plugged in a data chip and activated the holo on my desk to show me a Venator-class star destroyer...

Or something resembling one, anyway.

"Venators?"

"Yup. However, they've been putting their own touch to them. Some of these stolen vessels were taken from scrapyards, much like how our first Y-wings were taken for General Dodonna," she said. "Quite fascinating if you ask me. Stealing a squadron of Y-wings was hard enough, but an entire capital ship? Whoever these people are, they are very resourceful."

"They don't sound like the kind of pirates we'd get along with," I said.

"Another guy I broke said they don't like outsiders, even more than Mandalorians do."

"I didn't think anybody could hate outsiders more than a Mandalorian!"

"I wasn't really surprised, actually. My people have started getting used to us, after all," she smiled at me before continuing. "He said they wouldn't form any alliances with anybody. Whatever they want, they'll get it by force."

"No treaties with shipyards even?"

"Nope. If they want a shipyard, they'll take it. By the looks of it, they've had this one under their thumb until we showed up. Their leader will send more ships to investigate where his transport fleet went. By the time he realizes it, we'll be ready."

"No objections from me..." I activated my comlink. "Tactical, what's the status of our weapons?"

 _"Ah General! I was about to contact you about that. Everything's operational at peak efficiency."_

"Good. I want all of our artillery cannons charged."

 _"BAC, too, sir?"_

"Why not? Charge the BACs, equal levels to regular artillery."

 _"Consider it done, sir. All guns should be ready in 10 minutes."_

"Good. I want long range scans for any inbound vessels, patrol routes expanded, fighters refueled and rearmed, everything."

 _"Right away!"_

"I'll be on the bridge in Twenty." I clicked off my comlink and looked at Sabine. "I'd like to speak with our prisoners, particularly the one that told you about their fleet."

She smiled at me, "Follow me."

...

"I told you everything I know already! Please just don't hurt me anymore!"

The guy was screaming and crying like crazy, so whatever Sabine did to make him talk, it completely broke his barriers. I could read his thoughts like an open holonovel. Upon arrival, the guard complained to his partner about a headache and getting something to drink afterwards.

"Open the door," I told the guard. "Sabine, if you would stay out here."

"What? Why?"

"I want him calm and he might start screaming again," I said. "Besides, I need you on the bridge."

"Alright, fine," she said, turning around on her heels and walking away.

"Would you like some security with you, sir?" the guard asked. "I've got men...

"I'm fine without it, thank you. Get yourself something to drink, Lieutenant," I said, smiling.

"Sir?"

"Your shift ends in 5 minutes, correct?"

"Y-Yes sir!"

I nodded, "I'll let you off early this time. Get something for that headache of yours."

"Thank you, sir!"

I nodded politely and opened the cell door, activated the shield with the Force. As soon as the prisoner saw me, he continued pleading that he wouldn't be harmed.

I held out my hand to calm him, "Don't be afraid, I'm not here to torture you."

The guy stared at me, warily, "Y-You're not?"

"Of course not," I said, pulling up a chair. "I just want a friendly conversation."

The guy was obviously reluctant about this. "Where's your commanding officer?"

"I am the commanding officer."

"Whatever you want, I already told your people!"

"That's fine, but I want to know more about that fleet of yours."

"My f-f-fleet?"

"Yup. I know it's an old Venator fleet, and very clearly some _Munificent_ -class frigates. Tell me everything about the fleet: number of ships that you know about, how many people do you have, etc."

The guy nodded, "So far we have about 25 Venators that we've salvaged from junkyards and commandeered from Imperial training facilities, even buying some off of private owners. We do have _Munificent_ -class frigates, and even a few light carriers."

"What kind of carriers?"

"I don't remember the class, but it's an old Imperial model..."

"Can you describe this carrier?"

"Four hangar bays near the aft, the bridge sticking out towards the front... overall a triangle shape, more or less."

"Quasar Fire-class?"

"Yes, that's it!"

I nodded, "We've had one of those before. Decent ship."

"We've modified it so it's spaceframe is stable, and even more armaments, but the power supply for those new guns and shields is too high for a ship like that so it can only focus one side of the ship at a time. Shields are already stretched to its breaking point so it doesn't take much to knock those out."

"You're an engineer?" I asked.

"No, but I'm familiar with all kinds of ships... sort of."

I nodded and asked him for more details about his fleets, their foot soldier numbers, tactics, and so on. But it wasn't until I got to his leader that he seemed lost.

"I've only heard about him, and occasionally from him. His voice sounds like it's being changed through the holo so I don't really know what he really sounds like. Almost nobody gets to see him... though usually it's never good when they do."

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"If he wants people to go out to do something, he comms them. But if somebody get called to his presence... most never return. If they do, they're not the same. Whoever leave his office alive is just a mentally broken shell of a man..."

The prisoner was silent for a moment, but then he added, "I've seen it happen before. This guy holds no remorse for anything. He never holds back. He tries to overwhelm enemies with not only superior firepower than most private corporations, but he also uses a lot of starfighters. A mix of Imperial and old Republic tactics I like to think."

"With all due respect, there wasn't a lot of 'overwhelming force' today," I said.

"We were just the cargo fleet. We're not equipped for large engagements like this. It's not our job."

I nod, "I suppose that makes sense. How did you guys get old ARC 170s?"

"Same way we got the Venators; we salvaged for them, stole them, and even bought them."

"How long until an investigation fleet arrives?"

"We're supposed to be on our way back by now, and communication report 20 minutes ago. As of right now... I'd say about a couple hours, give or take."

"How big of a fleet should we expect?" I asked.

"Depends on the importance of the situation. Since this is a good source of resources for us..." He fell silent and looked like he was trying to figure something out. "4-6 Venators plus 15-20 frigates and several dozen fighters. However many the Venators are carrying. Your current fleet here won't last long under all that fire."

"I wouldn't doubt it, but we've got something you guys don't."

The prisoner looked at me, clearly puzzled. "What is that?"

"Better tech, better ships, more firepower, stronger shields, longer range..."

"How long of range?"

"You wouldn't believe it. Also, we survived the Death Star."

The prisoner seemed to choke on his own breath. "D-Death Star? You people fought against the Death Star and survived?"

I didn't say another word and I turned to leave. As I did, he started mumbling something about how badly they probably messed up this time.

...

Sure enough, just almost two hours after my meeting with the cooperative pirate, a fleet of Venators appeared from hyperspace right in front of us. The prisoner's guess at the fleet size was fairly accurate so far. Six Venators, 18 frigates, and of course a bunch of fighters: ARC 170s, V-19s, and I think I even saw a few Eta-2 interceptors. All outdated and, judging by comm scan data, weaker weapons. However, weaker doesn't mean any less dangerous.

The holo table behind me started to beep and Sabine reported a transmission from the enemy flagship.

I walked to the back to the table and the holo activated. An armored man appeared in front of me.

"You called?" I asked casually.

I don't think this guy liked that. He seemed agitated.

 _"I'm going to be direct with you."_

I nod, "I'm listening."

 _"Who are you and what are you doing here?"_

"So... I have to identify myself first?"

 _"Don't play dumb with me, kid!"_

I heard Sabine mutter something, but I kept my focus on the holo in front of me.

I tense a bit, but I don't let me emotions show.

"I am General Ezra Bridger of the New Rebellion Starship _Resolute_. On behalf of the Terran people, you are ordered to withdraw and never return. If you refuse, there will be consequences."

 _"The rebellion was killed long ago! Even then, we never supported them! Any act of resistance will be dealt with quickly!"_

"You're currently out of weapons range..." I pointed out.

 _"These ships are fast. We will be on top of you before you even know it!"_

"I can say the same..." I look past the hologram towards the tactical officer. "Fire LRACs."

The vibrations from the artillery cannons firing was felt through the entire ship, though faintly. I watched the blue bolts fly through space at speeds faster than the average laser cannon, and the enemy fleet was hit hard. The target ship was a frigate, and it didn't even survive the first volley of cannon fire.

I heard a voice outside the holo start shouting about the shots fired at one of their frigates taking point in a defensive position, and the captain ordering fighters to be launched.

"As you can see, my ship is quite similar to your Venators. The space frame is mostly the same, but it's larger and more powerful."

The enemy commander snarled at me, then seemed to look at something else from a data pad somebody handed him. _"All hands, fire at those antennae at the front of that ship! That's got to be a targeting array!"_

"I'll take it you're not leaving?" I asked calmly.

His response was a cut off transmission.

"Very well. All ships, order targets by range. Whatever you have locked, keep focused fire. Keep point defense hot. Fire at will."

The space between our two fleets gradually began filling up with red and blue shots as the enemy fleet approached. Many of the frigates started closing distance, but I ordered our _Arquitens_ cruisers to take them out. ARC 170s and V-19 Torrents swarmed, but my X-wings countered them and proved to be more efficient in taking out targets, and our pilots superior in dogfights. The Eta-2 interceptors were, ironically enough, intercepted by our A-wings, but had a little more difficulty taking them out. Of course, we still had losses, but not as fast as the enemy, especially since we had a lot of point defense laser cannons forming a defensive screen between us and the advancing fighters. Even a few frigates that were caught in the screen were completely destroyed in close to a minute.

 _"General, there's an opening to the enemy capital ships! Should we send in bombers?"_

"Negative! They have point defense, too, not to mention they still have frigates deployed around them. Let our capitals take care of them."

 _"Yes sir!"_

"Sir, a few enemy fighters are trying to destroy our BACs!"

"They think they're targeting arrays. Target the nearest Venator and fire, quarter power."

"A quarter-power shot would still weaken our shields..." Sabine said.

"Better than none... A third power, then. Alternative fire rate, 4 shots per cannon."

Sabine grinned, "Oh this is going to be good."

"Full power shots strains the ship, correct? What about half?"

"Minor power fluctuations, most likely, but shield integrity would be so low, it would be best not to have them online," Sabine said.

"Right... one-third power, alternative shots. Fire when ready!"

Our main batteries had a noticeable drop in firing speed, as did our point defense, but the BACs did their job, destroying the shields and breaching the forward hangars, making the main hangars inoperable and effectively slowing down operations to repair and rearm starfighters mid-battle.

"Wait a few minutes before firing another volley, same power level shots!" Sabine said.

Throughout the entire battle, several enemy fighters kept strafing our shields, sometimes even hitting the hull due to lower power levels from firing the BACs. Eventually, I called off BAC strikes and allowed the _Legacy_ to cover us while we recharge our shields and weapons. By the time everything was full power, there were three of the original six Venators were burning wrecks from focused fire from all our ships. Four of the original eighteen frigates were still operational, but were also burning. They turned tail and were about to run before our reinforcement fleet arrived and cut them off, forcing them to surrender.

We took the survivors prisoner aboard the _Resolute_ , but soon I ordered them transferred to the Terrans so they could judge them by their laws. As for the remaining enemy ships, we scuttled them for resources; weapon parts, shield generator parts, engine parts, extra armor and hull plating, we even stripped the hull as best we could of anything that didn't have a mark on the outside, but there really wasn't even a square meter of outer hull plating without some sort of damage. After we stripped the ships of resources, the Terrans offered to send the empty ships to their shipyards for final deconstruction. Whatever was left would be turned to scrap.

...

 **5 Hours Later**

...

I walked into the officer's hub back at Epsilon Station and immediately, some new officers started talking amongst themselves. I looked at the time, then around the room until I found Sabine sitting alone in a far corner booth. I walked over and sat across from her.

"Hey, this seat taken?" I asked.

She looked up at me and smiled, "Of course not."

"You said 1900 hours," I said.

"I almost miss the days when you were always late," she joked.

I heard some more talking behind me. Normally, I wouldn't be bothered by it, but these officers were recently commissioned and are awaiting either their own ships to command, or ground troop units, a few even waiting to be assigned to new fighter wings, and they're specifically talking about me.

"You bothered by something?" Sabine asked.

"Yeah, they're talking about me," I muttered.

Sabine looked over my shoulder, then back at me with a smile, "It's nothing bad. New officers and all... they're inspired."

I must've looked confused because she started explaining.

"It didn't take long before everybody here found out about our most recent battle. Some might say you're becoming _'legendary_ _'_."

"Seriously?"

"I'm not bothered by it. Personally, I like not having their attention. Especially from the men. Most of the time it's because of my body. But then again, I do enjoy seeing how quickly they step back and jump to attention every time I show rank on them."

She laughed to herself a little.

"So is anybody calling you legendary?" I asked.

"Well, of course, you dork," she said. "I have a shared command of the _Resolute_ , with you, and everything like that. Every crew member stationed with _Resolute_ are very popular, especially the pilots."

"I can understand that much. As least we're not getting all the glory," I said.

"You never really want the glory," Sabine countered, leaning over the table towards me. She rest her chin on the back of her hands and stared at me.

"Yeah no, I really don't," I laughed.

Sabine raised an eyebrow at me, smirked, then pressed a button on the edge of the table. Immediately, a holo appeared and started asking what we'd like to eat or drink.

Granted this place wasn't a restaurant, but with the nearest place several parsecs away _inside_ the galaxy, we couldn't resist the urge to get these things, especially after a long journey that literally takes us outside the galaxy.

After a few more minutes, we were eating and drinking and enjoying each other's company for the rest of the 'night'.


	22. Artemis

**Chapter 22**

 _"Generals Bridger and Wren, Chief Engineer Tenith is requesting your presence in his workshop."_

I sighed and glanced at Sabine as she pins her rank pieces on her uniform.

"Whatever happened to your armor?"

"I still wear it under my uniform. I made mine custom so it can adapt to my armor. Looks like I'm not even wearing it, though," she said.

"Doesn't all of our uniforms do that?"

"A little, but mostly you'd wear your armor outside your uniform."

"Right..."

We walk down the corridors of the station and take a few turbolifts until we arrive at Tenith's shop. He greeted us with an excited smile and a salute.

"Generals."

"Tenith," Sabine said, smiling. "What do you need?"

"Remember a few weeks ago when I talked about designing a new ship to cover our cruisers from starfighters?"

"Yeah, like it was yesterday," I said.

"Well, I think you are going to like this..." He activates the holo on his desk and something that looked like a ship appeared.

"Is that it?" I asked.

"It is. I'm calling it the _Artemis_ \- class destroyer."

Sabine crossed her arms and looked at the holo, clearly interested.

"The _Artemis_ , huh? What's it's armaments, armor, shielding, and everything else?"

Tenith grinned, "I was about to get to that. I'll start with the armaments."

He types around on the control console and the holo zooms in on different armaments.

"For anti-ship capabilities, the _Artemis_ consists of four light, dual turbolaser cannons. Two on the dorsal side, and two on the ventral. Two bow, and two aft," Tenith explained.

"So it can fire backwards?"

"Precisely! Full three-sixty coverage. Slim, but sturdy spaceframe, very quick. It can match the speed of a corvette, but it's larger and is more durable," Tenith said.

"What about anti-starfighter defense?" Sabine asked.

"I'm not done," Tenith said. "It has six rapid-fire laser cannons for point defense and light armored ship combat. It can be refitted for missile tubes as well at the expense of armor and cargo space, and depending where you have them, even laser cannons. Turbolasers cannot be refitted for anything, but can be removed for maintenance.

"It's engines consist of three ion engines with a powerful dual antimatter reactor. Hyperdrive is class 3 so it's very fast in light speed. It's hull is made of up of thick, durasteel plating, designed for a little extra resistance to laser cannons. Turbolasers and torpedoes are still able to penetrate, however, but first they'll have to get through the powerful shield generator. Her shields are as powerful as a light cruiser, but with the power efficiency of a corvette."

"Sounds tough," I said.

Tenith nods, "It's designed to be a tough opponent. It is fully capable of operating alone for a period of time, but in any scenario that it falls under attack by a larger fleet or ship, it must either call for reinforcements or jump away."

"There should be at least a couple corvettes protecting it at all costs. Remember, nobody goes out alone, remember? There should always be some sort of support," I said.

"Well, our fighters still have hyperdrives...," Sabine said. "They can provide escort for the destroyer."

"Are there places on the _Artemis_ where fighters can dock?" I ask.

Tenith shrugs. "There are, but maybe a light carrier for the fighters if the destroyer is going out alone would be better."

"We don't have those..." I said.

"What about the Quasar-Fire class? That ship would be perfect as an escort carrier," Sabine said.

"Where are we going to get those?" Tenith asked. "We can't produce them, legally."

"These ships we're building are already illegal to the Empire, but that's not what I mean!" Sabine sighed.

I remembered that prisoner I talked to right before a hostile pirate fleet arrived and he mentioned a few Quasar-Fire class carriers in their fleet.

"What about the pirates that harassed the Centauri? They mentioned having Quasar-Fire carriers as part of their fleet," I explained.

Sabine seemed to think about it.

"Well... yeah, but what about them?" Tenith asked.

"We could take them from the pirates. Confiscation tactics for their trouble," I said.

"That's not going to work," Sabine argued. "They wouldn't just give them up to us or anybody. They'd fight back so we would have to knock out their hyperdrive and board them."

"Right... you have a point there," I said.

Tenith spoke up then, "We can build a new carrier, then."

"That takes resources we don't have," I said.

Sabine stared at me. "We can always get the resources. It would be best to design ships and see if both Kristinal and the Centauri can build them for us while we build other, smaller ships."

Tenith nods with agreement, "They could focus on constructing capital ships while we build cruisers, destroyers, etc."

"Does Hera know about this design?" I asked.

"Not yet. I wanted you two to be the first to see it. I already handed the plans to my engineers and they're waiting on the go ahead from her."

"I can run them up to her right now," Sabine volunteered.

"Thank you. I would do it myself, but I am needed here," he said.

He pulled the chip out of the terminal and hands it to Sabine. We both leave Tenith to his engineers and head up to the command deck.

"I should get back to my room. I still have a stack of reports from other rebels that I haven't read through," I said, groaning.

"You best get on those, then," Sabine said. "I'll stop by later and if you still aren't done, I might help."

"Might?"

She shrugs.

"I have about 4 dozen files, though... I can't get them all done by myself!"

Sabine laughs, "Then you better get going, Ezra."

She enters a turbolift and grins at me. "Tick, Tock, Ezra. Sooner you get started, the sooner we can hang out."

The doors close and I turn around and walk back to my room, grumbling to myself the whole time.

...

 _One dozen reports finished... I hate paperwork._

I finish reading and filing another report from Maridun.

Another Imperial patrol, but they were able to take them out before they could relay information. Nothing huge; just a command cruiser with a couple TIEs and a Lambda- class shuttle.

 _BZZZ!_

I look up to the door to my room. I don't even need to ask who's there.

"Come on in..."

The door opens as I turn back to the reports.

"Having fun?"

Her cheery tone meant something good happened. I have a good guess on what it is, too.

"Not really. I'm guessing Hera approved the _Artemis_?"

I could feel her eyes on me and feel her curiosity.

"You probed me?"

"No," I turned to look at her. "I can hear it in your voice."

She smiled, "Oh... well to answer your question, she did."

I smiled. It was about time we built something new. Something of our design.

"You haven't answered my question, by the way." She stared at me, her hips swayed as she shifted her weight to her right leg. She had her arms crossed.

I shake my head, "It's paperwork, I hate it."

"You should have read them sooner," she said, walking up to my shoulder and picking up a report. "Maridun, huh? It's been a while since we've heard from them."

"They discovered a small Imperial patrol. Just a single command cruiser, but there's probably going to be a little more trouble..." I said.

"We should deploy a small fleet there... for security," she suggested.

I nod my head in agreement, but remain silent. My eyes close and I start to doze off.

"Hey!"

Something smacked the back of my head and I jump up, awake again.

"No dozing off until we're finished with these reports, you hear?"

I groaned, "Fine. I'll take the next twelve, you take the other 24."

"Why do I get 24?"

"Because I already went through the first 12 of my stack," I reasoned, picking up another report.

...

A couple hours later, I throw down the last report from my stack and turn to Sabine, who already appears not only asleep, but she's done with the reports.

 _How is she already done?_

I walk over to her and shake her shoulder until she woke up.

"Hm? What's going on?" she mumbled, sleepily.

"You're already done with the reports?" I asked.

"Mmhmm. I'm a fast reader."

"I wish I was..."

"You grew up in the streets, no offense," she reminded me.

"Yeah, I know, but I could still read."

She leaned up against me and sighed. "I'm really tired, now..."

"I'm sorry we couldn't go out again like you wanted to..."

"No, it's okay. Mind if I sleep here tonight?"

She looked up at me, almost giving me puppy eyes.

"I-I... If you want to..."

She giggled and wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling herself up. Just so she didn't fall over, I wrapped my arms around her waist, but I was blushing the entire time.

"Sabine?"

"Hm?"

"Are you okay?"

She hummed at me.

I take her over to the bed. I planned to just lay her down and jump up onto the top bunk, but she shoves me into the bottom bunk and jumps in next to me.

"Sabine, what are you...?"

"Just shut up and let me sleep, Ez."

She curls up on my chest and falls asleep faster than a ship could jump to hyperspace.

I smile and just hold her, allowing my thoughts to drift until I, too, fall asleep.

 **...**

 **Location: Terran Orbit**

 **System: Corinth**

 **Date: 4 ABY, Month 7, Day 20**

 **...**

 _The Terran leader is coming up to_ Resolute _to discuss ship production._

 _Here._

 _On my bridge._

"Ezra?"

"Hm?"

I look over and see Sabine staring at me. Her face is full of worry.

"Are you okay? You look nervous."

"Of course I'm nervous. It's the leader of a people we saved and I'm not a diplomat."

Sabine puts her hand on my shoulder. "It's okay. We're just figuring out what they're willing to do with us in terms of ship construction. It's not that hard."

"I know... But still, I'm no diplomat."

My comlink goes off and one of my security officers started talking.

 _"General Bridger. The Terran Chief Minister is on his way up the turbolift. He should be there momentarily."_

"Thank you for the notice."

Sabine gave me another worried look, her hand slid down from my shoulder into my hand and gave it a soft squeeze.

"You'll be fine. I'll say a few things, too. We're in this together, remember?"

I smile and nod at her. She let go of my hand right as the turbolift doors opened and the Chief Minister stepped out. Everybody on the bridge stood at attention.

"Chief Minister," I said, stepping forward to formally meet him.

He was pretty short, about 5 foot 2 is my guess, but he looks incredibly strong. His eyes showed evidence of age, but otherwise you would think he was my age; early twenties.

He looked me up and down, smiled and said, "You must be General Ezra Bridger. I thought you'd be older, but no matter. You probably expected me to be taller."

I smiled back and nodded politely, "May I introduce you to General Wren?"

The Minister looked to Sabine and smiled, "Ah, yes. Hera has spoken of both of you. Shared command, I hear?"

"Yes sir," she replied. "Takes the stress of command off one person. Makes it easier to lead a capital ship, especially at our age."

"It's a good idea, for the right people in charge," he agreed. "Now, shall we get down to business?"

"Of course, Chief Minister. Right this way, please," I said as I motioned him towards the holo table near the rear of the bridge. The doors separating the holo from the rest of the bridge closed, giving us privacy.

"To start, I would like to personally thank you and your people for helping us. Of course, those pirates will not let us go so easily," he began.

"Yes, of course. We're growing in numbers and our presence in the galaxy is becoming known, but we do not have the ships to fully support ourselves," I said.

I was starting to grow more comfortable, especially since I'm venting my fears into the Force.

"We will gladly make whatever you need. But of course, I would need to approve of it," the Minister said.

"Shall we begin, then?" I asked.

He nodded eagerly and the lights in the room dimmed as the holo activated.

"You are already familiar with our _Avenger_ \- class star destroyers and our _Arquitens_ \- class light cruisers. However, our top engineer suggested a new ship, a destroyer class to be exact, to help combat starfighters and other light-armored ships," I began.

"That would be something I'd do. Do you have the schematics for this craft?"

I nodded and Sabine plugged in a data chip, the _Artemis_ appeared on the holo, pushing the _Avenger_ and _Arquitens_ out of the way.

"The _Artemis_ \- class destroyer. Theoretically, it should have good armor, shields, engines, and weapon capability. Four light turbolaser batteries and six rapid-fire laser cannons. From what our engineer told me, there can be missile tubes fitted into the ship as well," I explained.

"Ah! A multi-role vessel! I love those!" the Minister exclaimed.

"In a way, I suppose it is. It's primary role is starfighter defense," I said.

The Minister studied the design and capabilities of the new warship, humming to himself a few times and taking notes. "From the looks of it, it should be able to operate freely on it's own..."

"It is believed to be capable of that, yes. But of course, threats of starfighters is always a big deal so we need a new escort carrier to fly with it."

"Quasar-Fire?"

"You know those ships?"

"I see those pirates using them all the time," the Minister said. They harrass my supply lines throughout my planet!"

"We don't think a Quasar-Fire would suit our needs..." Sabine spoke up.

"Yes, I suppose that's true... The Quasar-Fire doesn't have the best armaments and armor for large fleet operations and looking at the designs of your main ships, I'm already getting ideas to expand your fleets. I just need security maintained around our planet so we can reactivate all our planetary shipyards."

"Have there been any more troubles with those pirates, lately?" Sabine asked him.

The Minister shook his head, "Surprisingly, no. I think they may be up to something, but the sooner we can get this ships of yours built, the better."

"I remember seeing a few ships in your orbital shipyards under construction the day we found you... What happened to them?"

The Minister smiled, clearly excited.

"They're on their trials. Construction is finished for the most part and they're all in the middle of their courses in a top secret location. We have a fleet of our own, which is also at this location."

"Top secret? Are you sure you want to be talking about this place so soon?" Sabine asked.

"Bah, I only said it was secret, never said where it was. The pirates know about this place, they just don't know where and they'll never find it!"

"Can you give us details about your fleet?" I asked.

"It's not very big... That large ship you saw before is the only one of its kind in our fleet. It's a starfighter carrier.

"We also have battleships, cruisers, destroyers..."

"Sir, respectfully, at this moment we don't need to know your fleet details. That can be saved for another meeting," Sabine said, a firm, yet apologetic tone to her voice. I looked at her and she was glaring at me.

"Yes, of course. My apologies," the Minister said, bowing.

"It was my fault. Sabine's right, we're not here to discuss your fleets. I pulled the conversation another direction," I said.

"Back to the Artemis- class destroyer, shall we?" the Minister asked.

"Yes."

"I don't recall hearing about the ship's hyperdrive. What class are you considering?"

"The hyperdrive should be a class 3.0, but that's still relatively under relative debate. We don't want it too fast, but not too slow," Sabine said.

"Right, it could critically damage the ship if you have the wrong one," the Minister agreed.

"We already have one ship under construction to experiment with. Find out any major flaws the ship may have," Sabine said.

"Sounds like your chief engineer is highly experienced with ship building," the Minister said, clearly pleased. He was smiling and his eyes shown with excitement.

"He was one of the best shipbuilders on Mandalore," Sabine agreed.

"I would like to be there when you test your new vessel."

"We can easily arrange that for you, Chief Minister," I said, smiling.

"Well then. I don't suppose there's anything else to discuss? The needed carriers, the new destroyer..."

Sabine looked at the Minister. "Well... we recently found a major flaw in our _Avenger_ \- class star destroyers..."

"Ah yes... From the looks of all the guns you have on those vessels I would imagine it consumes immense levels of power. I've already considered building a new kind of warship that could better serve as flagships to your fleet," the Minister replied. "That is, if you are alright with that."

"Of course. We've been eager for new vessels. Hence, this meeting," I said.

"We can most certainly use our own resources for your vessels as well as our own. I'd be more than happy to."

"You mentioned opening your remaining shipyards once your planet has proper security?" Sabine asked.

"Yes, there's that," the Minister replied.

"We can assign a fleet to guard your planet until your fleets complete their trials," I said, smiling. "With your permission."

"You have my permission," he replied. "Sounds like we struck a deal. If any plans change, please do let me know."

The Minister stood straight, stared right at me for a few moments, then bowed respectfully. I bowed in return and he soon left the bridge and the _Resolute_ to return to his people.


	23. War on Two Fronts, New First Contact

**Chapter 23**

* * *

 **If you want to see what the _Artemis_ -class destroyer looks like, email me: icfr0st1real gmail.**

* * *

 _"Commencing Artemis launch! All hands are ordered to stand clear of the dispatching starships!"_

That familiar, yet annoying automated voice kept repeating that same message until the newest additions to the _Artemis_ \- class destroyer fleet was launched. Four brand new destroyers, armed and ready for war. The hull was shining under the hangar lights, but then as it cleared the station, the nearby star light made it even brighter.

It's been four weeks since our meeting with the Terran Chief Minister, and three since the first of the _Artemis_ destroyers was launched. Everybody was ecstatic that there was very few problems with the ship. Only the hyperdrive and the main power reactor were acting up and the weapons and shields were glitching, but recent modifications and just a day later proved the ship to be very promising.

I stand in the bridge of the NRSS _Resolute_ and watch as our four destroyers take their positions with the main fleet, which consists now of three _Avenger_ -class star destroyers, three _Legacy-_ class star battleships, close to 15 _Arquitens_ \- class light cruisers, and 20 CR90 corvettes.

The Chief Minister was very pleased with the launches and has accepted Hera's proposal to be the Rebellion's main ship manufacturer. He had an idea to form a new ship building company inside the galaxy to help pay for the costs for construction of all the ships. Of course, they don't need the funds on their world, but since it will be based in the galaxy, then it's obvious and wouldn't need explanation on why they would need funds. He wants to build factories and mines all around the outer and middle Rim. They would be a privately owned company that would build more civilian ships such as transports and freighters. Of course, with the galaxy being a very dangerous place, they would need to supply weapons. All the funds and the resources put into this company will be discreetly shipped from the headquarters to several other factories until they get to a remote area of space for a direct jump to the Terran homeworld. Those resources would then be put into good use into making warships while the Rebellion gets the funds to "buy" resources and ships completed by the company. It's all one big complicated system, but it would make the company look genuine since they're making sales. Of course, some of the funds would have to be given to the Empire as required by the law, which is the drawback to this plan, but the ships would be registered so it would be easier for solo ships to be evasive to Imperial watch.

...

The comm panel on the holotable was flashing, indication an incoming transmission.

"Patch it through?" Sabine asked.

I nodded and she pressed the flashing button and the Chief Minister appeared in front of me.

"General Bridger. I have something to report from my planet."

"What is it, Chief Minister?"

"My people are finishing up designs of several new types of ships that will be in service to your... pardon me, _our_ cause," he said.

"Are these designs open for review?" I asked.

"Not all of them. Some of the larger vessels are still undergoing planning, but we have that escort carrier you desperately need."

I glanced at her but she shook her head and waved my attention back to the Terran leader.

"May we take a look at it?" I asked.

"Of course," the Minister said, smiling.

His image was quickly replaced by a type of ship that looked very similar to a Venator, but the bridge was one and the space frame was smaller and more narrow, the bow built almost to a point.

"We're calling this the Redeemer-class escort carrier. Clearly, as you can see, it has a similar design that of the Venator- class, alongside your Avenger- class."

"I looks nice," I said as I studied the design.

"It's entire purpose is to carry starfighters into combat. Your X-wings and Y-wings can be carried for longer range missions, to conserve fuel for your fighters, but that's completely optional. It can be able to carry your B-wings into battle," the Minister said.

"We don't have B-wings... not anymore," Sabine said. "And how did you know about them?"

"I do my research on ships. I've known about it for a while and I already have my engineers preparing designs for that one. The B-wing Mark II..."

As he spoke, a new image appeared: the B-wing he spoke of.

"Interesting..."

"The hyperdrive will be removed completely so you can maintain that main anti-ship laser cannon that it originally possessed, but it will also have a navigator/copilot and a rear gunner."

"For that it will need to be larger..." Sabine said.

"Indeed, this design is larger than the original, but it is still slim enough to easily avoid fire. The Redeemer will be able to carry six of these B-wings as well as two squadrons of A-wings. X-wings will have areas to land and refuel, but those are risky areas for ships to be locked down during hyperspace jumps."

"So our X-wings will have to follow if they're going to take part in any mission with it?"

"Precisely. However, for any large engagement, we will be willing to build our own carriers and assign them to your service."

"You don't have to do that, Chief Minister..." Sabine protested.

"Nonsense. We'll do everything for the Rebellion. We do not want to remain hidden anymore."

"He has a point, Sabine," I reasoned.

"Not to mention there would be a lot of diversity with the fleet," Hera said. She had been sitting on the other side of the holotable as a hologram, silently listening. "Something the Empire doesn't have. They have restarted their own command cruiser production, but that won't last long under the Tarken Doctrine."

"That's why it was originally shut down... how they managed to bring it back is a mystery," Sabine said.

"In a one v. one match, though," the Chief Minister began, "your light cruiser would most likely win as it's got more guns than the Imperial command cruiser."

"Better shields and armor, really. The engines and guns are pretty much the same," Hera said.

"Nonetheless, there's more guns to it," the Minister said.

"More doesn't mean stronger..." I said.

"I never said it's stronger, only that it's more likely to win against one Imperial command cruiser," the Chief Minister said.

Somebody joined Hera from her side of the transmission and whispered into her ear.

"I'm going to have to cut this meeting short. Tenith has something he needs to discuss with me about," she said then.

"Very well. I'll see what my people can do about boosting our production lines," the Chief Minister said. "I'll get my top planners to start working on starting our company, too."

"Really quick, Chief Minister," I began. "If I may ask, would there be civilian workers?"

"I'd rather not risk people who support the Empire in this company. Rebels and/or Rebel sympathizers will have to make up the employees."

"Right. On that point, this meeting is adjourned," Hera said. Her image disappeared, then the Chief Minister's.

I looked over at Sabine for a moment before walking to the front of the bridge.

"Sir, there's another transmission incoming from _Reclamation_."

I nodded to the comm officer, "Bring it up here."

Seconds passed before Bastian appeared in front of me.

"Admiral," I said respectfully.

"General. It's been a while since we've last spoken," Bastian said with a smile.

"It has. What do you need?"

"I just received orders from Hera to decide which destroyers go where between our two battle groups. She mentioned that she forgot to tell you two that before shutting down communications."

"Right... I suppose we should do that, then," I said.

"I think the _Artemis_ itself should be with your group, along with the _Hermes_ ," he said.

"Are you sure?" I said.

"It's not much of a discussion... more just my opinion. We don't exactly have a lot of options on the table," he said.

"You're right... So then the _Apollo_ and _Hades_ are with you?"

"Yup. Unless Sabine has any thoughts about the arrangement."

Sabine shrugged next to me. "I'm okay with it if you two are."

"Then it's settled," Bastian said.

"I'll go send out the order," Sabine said as she walked towards a different comm panel.

...

 **Location: Wild Space**

 **System: None**

 **Date: 4 ABY, Month 8, Day 20**

 **...**

The fleet keeps growing. Even though we have two primary fleets, one led by Bastian's _Reclamation_ , the other led by us and the _Resolute_.

Still, with each battle group consisting of 4 CR-90 corvettes, 4 _Arquitens_ light cruisers, 3 GR-75 medium transports that we've recently bought, one _Avenger_ \- class star destroyer, a _Legacy-_ class star destroyer, and now two new _Artemis_ \- class destroyers. It's main role is starfighter defense, but when it comes down to other light armored ships, the Arquitens handles that. Capital ships are dealt with by our own star destroyers, but with the primary Imperial fleet mainly consisting of capital ships, it's difficult to keep up. Not to mention their super star destroyer shipyards are producing more ISSD's every couple months. Our third _Avenger_ -class stays in Terran orbit as part of it's defense fleet. The Terran defense fleet now consisting of one _Avenger-_ class and _Legacy_ -class star destroyers, standard number of cruisers and corvettes, however they do not have the _Artemis_ -class destroyers as we've only built four total. The test vessel was planned to go into the defense fleet, but the ship's spine fractured, rendering it unable to jump. By that point, it was decided to remain either docked, or on subspace patrols around Epsilon. Since we don't want to risk any losses, it's manned by droids...

"Ezra!"

Sabine's voice cut through my thoughts and I "woke up" from my meditation.

"Ezra, wake the kriff up!"

"I'm awake, jeez!" I rubbed my eyes. "What's going on?"

"I've been trying to wake you up for close to 5 minutes. What in the galaxy were you thinking about?" she asked me.

Her eyebrows were furrowed in frustration and her brown eyes were staring right into my blue eyes.

 _Brown eyes... Sabine's eyes._

 _But my door was locked..._

"How did you get in here?" I asked, now feeling drowsy from my meditation.

"You already know how, you're speaking to me, remember?"

Her eyebrows relaxed and she smirked at me.

"Right... okay what's going on?"

"Oh, right." She cleared her throat. "We've arrived at our coordinates. The Imperial convoy isn't here, but we're not late."

"So we're early for once?"

She grinned, "Nope. Right on time, actually. I hacked into Imperial military channels and our convoy is running behind. The docking clamps were jammed and it took them 30 minutes to fix it. It should be here in about 15 minutes."

"Either way, that's a first for us," I said.

I climbed up to my feet and put my uniform shirt on, pinning my rank plates on the left side of my chest.

"Oh, and I just had these made for officers..." she handed me a hat. It was black with red trimming and outlining.

"You really expect me to wear this?"

"Hey, you look great in uniform," she said, shooting a wink at me right afterwards.

I smiled and shook my head, but obliged to put the hat on. It didn't feel stiff like the Imperial hats, which surprised me.

"So? What do you think?" she asked me.

"It's... comfortable."

She smiled at me, "Good! Exactly what I wanted to hear!"

She put on a hat of her own. "It's armored, but flexible. The uniforms are like that in a different way, but these hats officer more head protection than the standard Imperial hats... Ezra?"

I didn't say anything. I just stared at her without realizing it at first, but then I decided to blink and snapped myself out of it.

"I'm sorry, what?" I asked.

"Are you okay? You were just staring..." she asked me.

"Oh... yeah, I'm okay..."

Her cheeks turned a faint shade of pink before she turned her back to me.

"Then let's get to the bridge. We still have that convoy to intercept," she said.

...

I stared out into space from the bridge of my ship, waiting for the Imperial convoy to show up. It should have arrived 5 minutes ago, but now we're just getting concerned. This convoy didn't have many supplies or ship parts. Instead it was more like a prison ship. Who the prisoners are, we don't exactly know. What we do know, is that they were apparently wanted by the Empire since before Yavin IV. Rebel sympathizers, but not formally a part of the old Rebellion.

"Ugh... where are those transports?"

I turned to Sabine to see she was pacing impatiently behind me.

"I don't know... are you sure they are taking this exact route?"

She glared at me. "I only know what the intel said."

"I don't know any more than you do," I said in defense. "And our intel was usually wrong before."

"This is the first time our intel was wrong since we reformed," Sabine said, clearly frustrated.

I opened my mouth to say something, but our communications officer spoke up.

"Generals, I'm picking up a signal... I think it's the convoy we're after, somebody's attacking them!" he called out.

"Nav, set a course. Make sure the fleet knows, we're making a simultaneous jump on my mark. Comm, are they describing the attackers?" I asked.

The officer nodded, "Unregistered ships painted in black and orange. I think we've met them before."

"All ships have called in ready, General. They're waiting on your order," Sabine said.

 _Seriously? She's being so formal to me again?_

"All ships, we're changing jump order... Comm, what kind of ships are attacking?"

The officer glanced up at me, "Frigates and cruisers. Nothing too big, but it's entirely possible that there could be more waiting elsewhere."

"Patch me in to the fleet," I ordered.

The officer pressed a button and nodded to me.

"All ships stand by for lightspeed on my mark..."

I stared into the stars for a moment. "Mark!"

I watched as several of our ships jump to hyperspace before the darkness before me turned into a blue vortex.

"All ships hold position upon arriving in the combat area until said otherwise," I said.

A few minutes passed until the blue vortex turned back into black space, though this time in front of us were 9 ships shooting at each other.

"Sir, those are Imperial convoy ships!" Nav shouted.

"I see that. How many do we have here?" I asked.

"I'm counting three Imperial vessels and 6 attacking ships," the weapon's officer reported.

"Overall, there's nine total hostiles," Sabine said.

"Patch me in with the black fleet," I said.

"You're on, General," Comm said.

"Attention all hostile vessels. Cease your assault and leave this space immediately or face consequences!"

I turned to Sabine and whispered, "Get the fleet in formation Alpha. Ready our LRACs."

"And the BACs?"

"Same fire levels as the LRACs, but do not fire until I say otherwise," I said.

Sabine nodded and ran over to the tactical officer to prepare the artillery guns.

"Sir, we've received a response from the enemy ships!" Comm reported.

"Let's hear what they have to say," I said.

 _"You must be the same people who destroyed our fleet at Terra. We will not yield to you!"_

"Fine by me..." I said before cutting off communications. "All hands at battle stations. Sabine?"

"Artillery is ready on your order, Ez," she said.

"Focus fire on the nearest pirate vessel. Two salvos."

I heard the Tac officer repeat my order to the main fire control operator and the ship shuddered as 8 artillery cannons went off.

"Ezra, our wing cannons are well within range... should we use those, too?" Sabine asked.

"Rotate them forward, but hold fire on those guns," I said.

The first ship exploded, but the pirates didn't back down. Instead, there was an alert for incoming vessels coming out of hyperspace off our starboard bow behind the pirate frigates.

"Multiple Venator-class star destroyers, Munificent-class frigates, Providence-class cruisers, and Quasar-Fire-class carriers coming out of hyperspace, sir!"

"How many?" I asked.

 _Things are really getting heated..._

"I'm counting..."

The ships appeared in front of us.

"4 Venators, 3 Providence, 8 Quasar-Fire, and 10 Munificent frigates... We're outgunned and outnumbered, sir..."

"Didn't stop us in Terran orbit..."

"More ships appearing off our port side, General! It's the Empire!"

I looked over to our port and saw a full fleet of Imperial Star Destroyers come out of hyperspace.

"Kriff..." Sabine muttered next to me.

"Agreed..."

"Sir, the Imperials are hailing us!" Comm shouted.

"Bring them on," I ordered.

 _"Attention all unidentified vessels, you are ordered to surrender your vessels or be ultimately destroyed!"_

I motioned for Comm to let me reply.

"Imperial vessels, those black and orange ships are dangerous pirates. They are the ones responsible for your convoy!"

 _"Nevertheless, your ships are unregistered and bear Rebel markings. Therefore, you will all stand down and surrender. I already gave the same warning to those pirates!"_

"Ezra, this is the Empire. We can't reason with them," Sabine said.

"I know, I know..." I thought for a moment.

I was about to order our ships to abort the mission and fall back, but something was telling me to stand my ground.

"All hands, remain at battle stations. Prepare to launch fighters."

"What?" Sabine screeched. "You can't be serious! We can't win this fight, Ezra!"

"Sabine..."

"We need to fall back! Call for reinforcements!"

"There is no reinforcements within reasonable range! Something's telling me to stay here," I countered.

"The pirates are attacking both us and the Imperials, Generals. The Empire is doing the same, both us and them," Tac said.

"Launch all fighters, I want every gun on every ship firing at everything that gets close to us!" I ordered.

The space between our three fleets was quickly filled with green, blue, and red turbolaser fire, the pirate fleet ships also being swarmed by point defense lasers as TIE fighters got close, as did our ships. I kept my eye on the _Artemis_ destroyers and was impressed at how effective it was in it's anti starfighter role. The enemy ships were not in range for it's guns, but the Arquitens cruisers were able to launch missiles at the pirates. Our CR90s supported the _Artemis_ destroyers with starfighter defense.

Our X-wings and A-wings all took off and engaged in dogfights with pirate and Imperial fighters. The bridge was once again filled with battle chatter from fighters and gunners communicating with each other, calling out targets and reporting ships or fighters destroyed.

"Sir, the Providence cruisers are closing on our position, the Venators are heading for the Imperials!"

"Don't worry about what's heading for the Empire, just call out anything closing on us!" I said.

 _"Rogue leader here, I think I know which one's their flagship!"_

"Where?" I asked.

 _"There's a Lucrehulk behind all those ships. I didn't even know that was here!"_

"They must have disguised its HP signature as a cruiser or something like that. And with all those ships surrounding it, it would be difficult to see it visually," Sabine said.

"Focus fire on the nearest ship! I want all ships defense only, we need to fall back, but don't jump out!"

A corvette exploded off our starboard side.

"We need to leave!" Sabine shouted.

"Something's coming, we need to stay!" I shouted back.

"Ezra, you said so yourself, nothing's coming!"

"I don't know what's coming, but I can feel it! Something is coming!"

I felt something connect with my left cheek, then the stinging started. I turned and looked at a very angry Sabine... no... Very scared Sabine.

She was filled with so many emotions: fear, hatred, confusion..

"Sabine... trust me..."

She was about to say something, but the nav computer beeped as several new ships appeared parallel to us.

"Sir! Several unknown vessels just showed up from hyperspace!" Nav shouted.

Sabine stared in disbelief as the new ships started tearing through the pirate fleet and distracting the Imperials. They broke through their lines very quickly and started towards us.

"Should we fire on them, too, sir?"

"No wait! Something about them is different," I said.

The new ships, which looked like they were painted blue, flew in front of us and seemed to provide a physical barrier between us and the pirates and Imperials. The largest of the ships was also protected.

"We're being hailed. I'll pull it up," Comm said.

The holo lit up and an unfamiliar man appeared.

"General Bridger?"

"How...?" I began, but I couldn't seem to form any words.

"My name is Gilliad Paelleon. I'm the fleet admiral of the Praetors. We were hoping to meet with you under different circumstances, but it seems we'll need to introduce ourselves after this battle."

"How do you know me and how did you know what was happening here?" I asked.

"We keep tabs with the Imperial network, but seriously, we should focus on the battle," Paelleon said.

"Right. Well, we kind of can't do any kind of battling with your ships in our way," I said.

"Understood. All ships, move out!"

The connection was broken and every Praetor ship moved out of our way.

I grinned, "Told you something was coming."

"Fine, you were right," Sabine muttered.

"All batteries, fire at the pirate ships! Paelleon, do you read?"

"Loud and clear! I see you engaging with the pirates. I'm ordering my fleet to engage the Imperial frackers!"

"Keep your ship close. I'm going to do something incredibly stupid right now."

"Understood. Paelleon out!"

Sabine gripped my arm. "What are you doing?"

"Charge the BACs, 75% power. Target the Lucrehulk battleship."

"Ezra!" Sabine shouted.

"The pirate fleet is clumped close together with the Lucrehulk in the middle. We take down that ship and the fleet goes with it," I said.

Sabine looked out towards the pirate fleet for a few moments. "But why 75%?"

"We need to finish this fight quickly," I said.

Sabine nodded and her attitude changed from scared and angry, to professional. She repeated my order to the tactical officer and the viewscreen polarized and several non-vital systems were shut down. Gravity felt lighter as the front of the _Resolute_ began to glow blue and white.

"BACs are charged and ready to fire. Targeting complete, we're good to go, General!"

"Fire!" I shouted.

The ship rocked as the blue death beam flew towards the pirate Lucrehulk. A few seconds passed before the light finally faded and we see the result of the blast. The shot hit its target, vaporizing several Munificent frigates, Quasar-Fire carriers, countless fighters, and half of two Venators before reaching the intended target, which was beginning to break apart as countless explosions dotted the surface of the ship before exploding completely. The explosion completely destroyed the entire pirate fleet, with the exception of a few frigates that managed to jump away right afterwards.

...

"Power is charging, we have minimal power to weapons and shields. Engines are good, hyperdrive is active. Damage is manageable, no need for concern," Sabine said, holding a datapad. "The prison ships were... recovered by the Empire. We failed our original mission."

"We have worse things to worry about, Sabine," I said, but I agreed with her. Our original mission was a failure.

"The Imperial fleet quickly retreated just a few minutes after the pirate fleet was destroyed. Without a doubt, I think the war has officially begun," she added.

I nodded grimly. "Get me Paelleon... it's about time he explains what he's doing here and why."

* * *

 **And now here's something new that I will do at the end of every chapter, specifically towards the users that don't have official accounts (Guests).**

 **I am not able to directly communication with you through this site without a real account so this should help. I'm not calling out on any particular person for anything, just for overall Guests.**

 **I take criticism very well so don't be afraid to speak your mind.**

 **I have been thinking I'm being a bit redundant in my recent chapters over meetings, comm frequencies, and battles, and thanks to a very kind Guest I should be focusing more on character development as I have strayed from that. As for ship designs I try to give out a visualization for every new ship introduced to the story.**

 **Once again, I take criticism very well, and I'm open to hearing what you all think I should do. I appreciate your kind reviews and look forward to reading more of them :)**


	24. Shore Leave Pt 1

**Chapter 24**

 **With my contact email at the start of last chapter, if you are a Guest, feel free to use it to talk with me. If you have a registered account, you can PM me here, or use my email, doesn't matter to me how to contact me.**

* * *

 _"Pellaeon here. I'd say that was a success, wouldn't you_ agree?"

"Gilad Pellaeon, there's a few things I need to talk to you about," I said.

He stared at me for a few seconds so I continued.

"First off, you must identify yourselves. Secondly, you need to state your purpose and how you knew we were here. Explain everything."

 _"Oh... right,"_ he placed a hand on his chin, seemingly to think. _"I am Captain Gilad Paelleon of the Praetorian fleet. I was the executive officer of the Imperial Star Destroyer Chimaera for a time, but my service to the Navy began with the old Republic..."_

"Imperial?!" Sabine exclaimed.

 _"I assure you, I'm no longer Imperial. I served with the Republic Navy as a Captain of the Acclamator-class assault ship Leveler. The only reason I remained in the Imperial Navy was because I respected it as an institution. I didn't really know what all the Empire was doing to its own citizens, let alone privately owned police forces. I've only served on a ship so I never had an opportunity to see what happens on a planet's surface. It was only after I was replaced on the Chimaera and transferred to supervise the garrison on my homeworld, Correlia, when I fully realized what the Empire was doing to innocent civilians. Not long later, I contacted the leader of the Praetors and wished to defect to them."_

"Okay, Captain, let me stop you there..." I said.

 _This is a bit much to take in all at once..._

"Ezra, a moment, please," Sabine said.

I looked at her and she grabbed my shoulder and spun me around so my back was to the hologram.

"I don't trust him, Ezra," she muttered. "I've heard all about him and he's a brilliant captain."

"Much like Thrawn?" I asked.

"I wouldn't compare him to Thrawn, but this guy has served with Vader," she murmured.

"I could probe him with the Force. See if he's lying or telling the truth," I offered.

"Even then I wouldn't trust him... I've never even heard of these Praetors before."

 _"I found out there was a convoy coming through here and I remembered hearing reports of rebels operating around here again, so I came by to investigate,"_ Pellaeon said.

Sabine turned around again, as did I.

"How did you know there was a battle?" Sabine asked.

 _"I like to know what we're jumping into first and foremost. I scanned the space we were entering and ordered all hands to general quarters. I didn't know exactly what was happening, but with the amount of ships, many of which were unknown to us, in the exact area where an Imperial convoy was located, I concluded there wouldn't be any other reason as to why there were so many ships in one spot than a battle. Remember, I've served with the navy for a very long time. Longer than you've been alive, as a matter of fact,"_ Pellaeon said.

"I still don't trust you..." Sabine muttered.

 _"If it makes you feel better, I can leave my fleet out of your space, and you can bring me aboard your ship and take me to your... leader."_

I look to Sabine and whisper, "That's the best he can offer. He's being genuine. I'm not sensing any tricks or plans to disrupt us."

"If I may add an opinion, Generals..."

I turned around and saw my XO standing there.

"We should detain him and bring him in for questioning. After all, he is, or was, a high ranking Imperial officer. The intel we could get from him will benefit us all. Perhaps even tip the tides of war in our favor in the long run."

 _"I am willing to cooperate in every way,"_ Pellaeon said.

I could sense Sabine's frustration, but she knew the XO has a point. High ranking officers are valuable targets and if there's something the New Rebellion lacks the most, besides resources, it's intel.

She sighed and stared at me, "It's your call, Ezra..."

I nod and turn to the XO, "Send a security team to secure the hangars and prep the ship to receive. Captain Pellaeon, you are ordered to man a shuttle and board my ship alone and without arms. You will be held under heavy security and surveillance at all times. Your fleet is not to follow."

 _"Understood. I'll be there in 10 minutes. Pellaeon, out."_

"Flight command, launch alert 5 fighters. Security escort only, maintain constant surveillance over the shuttle and overall space superiority," I ordered.

"Aye, General!"

The order was repeated through ship-wide speakers word-for-word, and just 10 minutes later, there was a Praetorian shuttle in my port side hangar.

Sabine walked up to me from the rear of the bridge after speaking to the XO.

"Security teams report no threats in the shuttle and he's being escorted to the detainment cells."

"Good. As soon as he's secure, give the order to jump to hyperspace," I said.

"Let me guess," she began, shifting her weight to her left leg and placing her hand on her hip, "course set for Epsilon Station?"

"You know it," I said with a nod.

She bit her lip and stood straight again, "Yes, sir."

...

 **Location: Epsilon Station**

 **System: Epsilon**

 **Date: 4 ABY, Month 8, Day 22**

...

The entire trip took two days, but we finally made it. As soon as we finished the paperwork for security transport, plus our mandatory situation reports, Sabine started dragging me to the mess hall in the station. That BAC shot I ordered on the pirate fleet did a number on a few minor systems, but nevertheless, my ship was once again down for repairs. Not just the shot, really, but just the battle in general. While we were gone, the Terrans did an incredible job of building new ships, so we were able to fill in gaps in my battle fleet almost immediately after docking with the station. I was given a crew report of my fleet and we had surprisingly few losses, so the survivors of destroyed ships were reassigned to the fresh ships of the same class. I think I even saw a few Terran engineers in the hangar with the third ship of the Avenger class star destroyers, _Retribution_.

"Is something bothering you?" I asked Sabine as we entered the mess hall.

"Nope, nothing. It's not like we brought an Imperial officer home with us, oh that's not bothering me at all!"

I just stayed quiet and blinked. I picked up a tray and started filling it with plates of food, the sound of chattering new recruits, ensigns, and officers filling the room.

"You sure you don't want to eat in your room?" I asked as we left the line and approached our usual table. Bastian was already there, waiting for us.

"We can go there, but I'm sure Bastian would like to talk with us," she said.

I nodded and followed her to our table.

"Admiral Narada, how's everything with your fleet?" I asked.

Bastian chuckled, "Seriously, Ezra? Come on, I thought we were all friends here."

Sabine silently sits down and starts eating her food.

I sit down next to her, facing Bastian.

"We are," I said, grinning. "I hate formalities, anyway."

"Unless they're necessary," Sabine said.

"Even then, I don't like being called on formally," I countered.

"Well, I practically grew up with formalities," Bastian said. He was chewing on a meiloorun that he had sliced into several slices. "Want a meiloorun?"

Sabine snorted, "Ezra? Eating a meiloorun? I'd like to see that."

"Why's that?" Bastian asked.

"General Bridger has a sort of hostility to that fruit," she answered.

"It caused me and Zeb a lot of trouble," I muttered. Still, I snatched a slice from Bastian's plate and chewed on it.

"I never thought I'd see you willingly touch a meiloorun, Ezra," Sabine teased.

"Can we just forget that day, please? It brings back a lot of painful memories. And don't even get me started with that painting of yours," I grumbled.

Sabine laughed and rested her hand on my arm, "Come on, you loved it and you know it!"

I just shrug and keep eating my food. "Perhaps..."

There was silence for a moment before I looked at her.

She's giving me puppy eyes. She didn't have to say anything.

"Alright, it was good. Now can we please stop talking about that?"

Sabine smiled and giggled, "Yes, we can."

We continued to make small talk until Sabine decided it was time for us to leave.

"Well, I'm beat. I'm going to my quarters for the night," she said as she stood up and pulled me out of my seat.

Bastian grinned at me as Sabine dragged me out of the mess hall and towards her quarters.

...

"Okay, so why did you drag me out?" I asked her once we got to her room.

"I wanted to know what you were thinking during that battle the other day," she began. "We were outnumbered and outgunned. Staying and fighting would've meant a devastating loss!"

"But it worked out for us in the end, didn't it? Minimal casualties and the lost ships were replaced as soon as we docked," I said.

"We wouldn't have had casualties if we had left the battle," Sabine argued.

"I thought Mandalorians didn't run from a fight!" I countered.

Sabine glared at me. "What do _you_ know about how we fight?"

"Sabine, I felt something was coming. Something that I felt would help us. And something did come and help us. We need all the help we can get to fight the Empire and this new threat to the galaxy!"

"I know that! But I don't want to lose everything we've worked so hard to build!"

She paused for a moment before adding, "Not again..."

Her anger was replaced with sorrow, fear, and guilt.

"Sabine..."

"I understand your confidence in everyone in our fleet. I don't doubt their abilities to get things done... But we're in no condition for open war. Not yet, anyway," she said. Pain was filling her voice. It wasn't physical pain, but emotional. Something one never hears from a Mandalorian.

"Sabine... I-I'm sorry..."

She looks away and stares at the wall. I decide to continue.

"I understand how you feel... Believe me, I wanted to get us out of there, but I couldn't give that order. Somehow, I just knew we'd make it out."

"I'm not questioning your abilities as a commander... I guess, in the end, we probably found more allies," Sabine said. She sounded hesitant and I was a bit stunned at her calmness. She never just gave in that easy, but this was a first.

"Probably?" I asked.

"I did some digging on the Praetors... they are also labeled as terrorists so that would explain why I missed them on the holonet in the first place. I can't believe I missed the most obvious detail: the types of missions won by them. We've never sent anybody out to the different worlds these Praetors went to. I may not trust Pellaeon, but I can't deny the fact that they may be just what we needed," she admitted.

I stared at her.

"Sabine Wren... since when have you been..."

 _What's the word I'm looking for?_

She smiled at me. "I guess people do change... I'm not accepting Pellaeon as an ally... not yet, anyway. It's more the Praetors themselves, though I don't trust them completely."

I nod. "I can agree with you on that... I may not know Pellaeon, but I can always count on you to fill me in on things, right?"

Her smile brightens a little.

"Always, General Bridger," she giggled jokingly.

I sigh in mild annoyance, but hearing her laugh made me smile. It's good to see somebody so harden through years of constant fighting smile and laugh; especially Sabine.

I suddenly felt some extra weight in my arms and I snapped out of my thoughts to see a mess of dark hair right under my eyes. I felt strong arms around me, holding me close and firm.

I blushed as I returned Sabine's hug, but I guess I did something wrong because she quickly pulled away a bit and looked at me with a worried expression.

"I'm sorry... It wasn't... professional of me..." she stammered.

"Who said anything about being professional?" I asked. _Why am I not stuttering? And why do I feel calm?_

"Ezra...?" She gave me a curious look.

"We're not really on duty right now. Even if we were, I didn't mind," I said with a smile. _Seriously, where is this coming from?_

She smiled and hugged me again. "I'm glad you're okay..."

"What do you mean? I've been working with you for at least 5 or 6 years..."

"I mean... that last fight before we found Epsilon Station... the shuttle crash in our port hangar, too... I'm glad you're okay."

"Of course I'm okay. It's going to take a lot to kill me, you know," I chuckled nervously, trying to lighten the mood. _Nervous chuckling... there it is._

"I've already lost so many people I care about... we all have... but I can't lose any more than I already have..." Her voice was wavering and she tightened her hug.

"I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you, ya know..." I said, smiling again.

She looked back up at me and smiled, "I'll always have your back. No matter what... okay?"

I nodded and hugged her back, finally.

...

 _"Sabine! I order you to get off this ship! The Rebellion can't lose both of their top generals at once!"_

 _"And I said I'm not leaving you! I'm not abandoning ship without you!"_

Sabine? Wait... why am I screaming at her? And why am I on the Resolute's bridge? I thought I was on the station... wait, did she say abandoning ship? Why?

 _"Sabine, I need to hold off the Empire while you and the rest of the crew get to safety!"_

 _The ship shudders violently as control consoles fracture, spark, and catch fire. The ceiling panels fall to the floor._

 _"How about now? That was the fire control console that just blew!" Sabine shouted back at me. "Not to mention we've fired the BACs full power three times already!"_

 _"I'll ram their flagship," I said._

 _"Like hell you are! You're either coming with me, or I'm staying right here!"_

 _More explosions filled the bridge and the main console lit up with a damage report: several hull breaches on all decks. The Resolute was covered in red from bow to stern._

 _I looked back up to Sabine... she has tears streaming down her face._

'What's going on...?' I thought to myself. 'I don't understand anything that's going on!'

 _The ship shook violently once again as my vision turned orange, then white._

...

I shot upright as I struggled to catch my breath. I clutched at my chest and felt my heart pounding so hard in my rib cage I thought it was going to burst. I looked around and found I was still in Sabine's room. The bright, colorful artwork from her spray brushes permanently stained on the smooth, metal walls of her room.

I felt an arm wrap around my chest and turned to see Sabine next to me. She looked worried.

"Are you okay? What's the matter? Another dream?"

I nodded and closed my eyes and held my breath a bit, trying to control it. My lungs quickly begged for air as I steadily exhaled, then inhaled slowly, deeply. I meditated in the Force in hopes to calm myself, but it only gave me the same vision so I reopened my eyes and started to calm down the old fashioned way.

Sabine placed a hand on my chest and pulled herself closer to me.

"Ezra, please tell me what's going on. This is the third time you've woken up tonight!"

I looked her in the eyes and sighed. "I don't think it's a dream..."

"Then what else could it..." she stopped herself. "Is it a vision? From the Force?"

"I think so... three times, all of them exactly the same. We were in the bridge of Resolute, but it was so heavily damaged that it was almost unrecognizable. Ceiling panels were on the floor, fires on consoles and control pits... We were screaming at each other. I was telling you to abandon the ship while I hold of Imperials. I don't know what was going on, but obviously there was some sort of battle... we fired the BACs three times, apparently..."

Sabine's worry only grew inside her. I could sense it.

"At least, that's what you told me. What we'd need to use three shots for, I don't know, but that would only mean it was a really big battle..."

"Let's just hope that doesn't happen anytime soon," Sabine said, finally.

She curled a leg around my waist and pushed me back down to the mattress. "Try to sleep... if something happens again, I'll be right here."

I nodded, though my face was burning and I felt like my heart was going to burst through my chest. I closed my eyes, expecting sleep to be impossible, but as soon as I saw darkness, I was out.

...

 **A/N: Sorry if this chapter seemed a little shorter than the others, but I am at my minimum word limit at 3,046. I've been distracted by several things, the most important thing being a storm that hit my area a couple weeks ago that resulted in multiple trees falling around my house. Though my front yard is mostly cleaned up, my backyard still has two and a half trees (one split in half) lying on the ground. If anybody is wondering, nobody in my neighborhood was hurt.**


	25. Conglomeration

**Chapter 25**

 **Location: Intergalactic Space**

 **System: Open Space**

 **Date: 4 ABY, Month 10, Day 17**

...

I shoot a target in the _Resolute_ 's holo shooting range, trying to get my thoughts off those Force visions I keep getting. Sabine is standing next to me, watching and waiting for her turn to shoot.

 _Pzzt!_

The target fizzles away, the bolt hitting it square in the center.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're almost as good as I am," Sabine teases.

I stand up from my prone position and stare at her, grinning.

"Admit it, I'm at least just as good."

She rolls her eyes at me. "Please... It's not easy to surpass a Mandalorian."

"Not easy, but it's not impossible," I point out.

"You liking the new holo room?" a voice asks.

I turn to see Wedge just walking in from his patrol. He salutes me and Sabine. "I just submitted my report. It's in your quarters ready for review."

"Good. And yes, I like this new room," I said, returning the salute to relieve the veteran pilot.

I thought about asking him if anything happened during his patrol, but if it was urgent he would've told me. Anything else would be in his official report, which I would need to read before transmitting it to Epsilon's fleet database.

"Did you know there's more than one function?" he asked then.

"Of course I know. I was briefed on everything before undocking from Epsilon," I said.

I heard blaster fire again and look to see Sabine starting her round.

"We've been out here for a month and a half and nothing's happening..." I grumble.

Wedge shrugs. "Yeah well... at least we get a good view."

"That we do," I agree.

Since we're in intergalactic space, we can see the galaxy even better than from Epsilon Station. I mean, yeah technically speaking the station is in intergalactic space, but from where we're at, we can see our home galaxy even better.

Things are busy in our space, and even Terran space. They finally have their fleets operational and no longer require our protection from the pirates, who are still harassing them, but we've already gotten involved with their struggle so we occasionally run into them as well. However, it would seem their main base of operations is either within the galaxy, or maybe in another system much like Epsilon and Terra; which is also why we're way out here. We have orders to scout the galactic perimeter to find any unknown systems that have a pirate presence near our space. Obviously, we haven't seen a thing. Our patrol is supposed to last 2 months and we're already a month and a half in, so just another two weeks and we're RTB.

Bastian's fleet also has the same mission, but they went the opposite direction of us. We keep a tight connection with everyone so we always know what's going on.

Our own fleet overall is growing rapidly. Many Terrans have offered to join our fleet. They've got colonies throughout their solar system that have been previously lost due to pirate activities so their population is growing again. Lots of mining colonies surrounded by combined Rebel and Terran security forces. It's not just Terrans populating these other planets and moons, though. Of course, we have our own mining and refining facilities but all the civilian population is made up by Terrans. Makes sense considering we are all militaristic.

With all these raw materials coming in, we've also developed a sort of trade economy with the Terrans, so we've got some income. Even better news, the Terran Chief Minister's plan to found a company within the galaxy is starting to show its worth. It's growing really well and with all the income flowing through this company, we are able to buy more parts and materials. Of course, the Empire gets involved and keeps taking many of the goods the Terrans build, but they still remain fair with the business and pay what we ask. It wouldn't get good PR if they decided to "make an example" out of them since so many other companies rely on ours for parts. We're nothing like Kuat Drive Yards, but we're using the Empire's greediness against them. They don't even realize that they're secretly funding the New Rebellion.

We have started buying parts from Kuat Drive Yards legally and the Empire can't find any connection with the Rebellion through these purchases. The Terrans have been buying materials and using their own freighters, and so are we. We buy what the Terrans build, and they buy what we build, and together, we buy what Kuat builds. Of course, we also buy things from other ship building companies; can't rely solely on Kuat and Terra.

 _PWA! Pfzzt!_

"HAHA! I beat your score, Ez!" Sabine jumps to her feet and grins victoriously at me.

I just roll my eyes. "I'll get you next time."

"No you won't," she says.

"Alright, I'll get you eventually," I say.

"Maybe eventually."

I get an alert tone from my wrist comm and I head up to the bridge. When I get there, the XO starts talking.

"We have a distress signal from the Outer Rim. The Empire has boarded a civilian freighter under suspicion of smuggling illegal goods. Do we intervene?"

"That's way off course..." I say.

"I can call Central Command and request orders," Sabine says.

I nod and give her the go ahead. I don't want to just leave these civilians to the Empire, but if they don't find anything they'll leave...

"What's the status of that freighter?"

The XO looks at the report, then back up at me. "It's damaged. It needs immediate repairs or it could be ripped apart from hyperspace. That's what the signal says."

"So they would be stranded... sitting ducks for pirates."

"So the Empire wouldn't be the only threat," the XO agrees.

"What are their coordinates?" I ask.

He hands me the report and I read it over. "Sabine, ask Command if there are friendly ships near these coordinates!" I toss her the datapad and turn to the galaxy off our port side.

Sabine runs to my side. "We have nothing over there. We're the closest ships to them."

"Are we allowed to assist?"

"She says leave them... we need to find these pirates."

"Comm, give me a straight connection to Central Command!"

The comm officer taps around his console for a moment before giving me a nod.

 _"General Bridger?"_

Hera...

"Hera, the Empire isn't the only threat to that freighter. Their hull is compromised and they are unable to jump to hyperspace, making them an easy target for pirates. Maybe if we're lucky it would be THE pirates we're looking for," I explain.

Hera looks to be thinking about it.

"Ezra's right, Hera," Sabine says, stepping forward. "These are civilians that are completely helpless... they could die and we're able to help."

Hera sighs and looks up at us. "Alright, I'm giving you the go ahead. But I don't want another scratch on that ship!"

I grin and we close the connection.

"Nav, get us to the source of that signal. I want all ships to jump as soon as they are ready!" I order.

I can feel the ship's engines pushing us to port, aligning us to the signal. One by one, I see our cruisers jump to hyperspace and before I know it, we find ourselves in the swirling blue tunnel as well.

...

As soon as we exited hyperspace, we established contact with the damaged freighter. By now, the Empire was gone and no sign of pirates yet.

"Attention civilian freighter! This is General Ezra Bridger of the New Rebellion warship _Resolute_. We picked up your distress signal and are willing to assist in repairs," I say.

 _"New Rebellion? You're real?"_

"Yes, we're real, now can we just stick with the situation?" I ask, mildly annoyed. We hear that too often.

 _"Sorry, yeah. The Empire screwed up my ship! I just got this paid off and the first thing that happens is I'm randomly under attack by the Empire for no reason!"_

"I ran a scan of the ship, Ezra. Without repairs he can't jump. The ship's integrity could fail if he does," Sabine whispers to me. "His sublight thrusters are online so he is able to maneuver."

I nod to her and continue speaking to the pilot of the freighter.

"Civilian freighter, you are to dock to the _Resolute_ for repairs. Leaving you out in the open makes you an easy target for pirates."

 _"Understood. I need docking vectors..."_

"You'll get your vectors. Standby."

I watch the freighter limp towards my ship's port-bow docking airlock.

"General, I'm picking up a few ships coming out of hyperspace off our starboard side," my Nav officer reports calmly.

"Keep weapons tight. I want shields up. Scan that freighter for anything potentially dangerous to us before he docks. This could be a trap for all we know," I reply.

"Should have done that sooner," Sabine tells me.

"I know. Better late than never, right?"

"Better right away than late," she replies, giving me a smirk.

"Whatever happened to shared command?"

"Want me to command this?" she asks.

"Yeah. You can take this one," I smile and nod.

I should sit back and see where this goes with her in full command. Gives me a chance to look around and focus on one thing.

"Keep primary batteries fully charged, I want LRACs at 100% ASAP!" she shouted to the officers. "Keep the fleet on alert!"

I looked to the communications officer.

"Are we still patched in with the freighter?" I asked.

"Yes, sir! We still have them," he replied.

"Attention civilian freighter! Be advised, we have detected unknown vessels coming out of hyperspace. Stay on alert!"

 _"Copy that, Resolute! We're trying to move!"_

"General, I've got that report you asked for," the XO said, walking up to me with a datapad. "There are no threats detected on the freighter. We can clear them for docking, but I would not advise allowing them on board the _Resolute_."

I nod and thank him before turning back to the comms panel.

"Civilian freighter, you are cleared to dock on our number two port airlock. Nobody on your ship is cleared to board our vessel, but I will be sending repair crews and armed security to you. We can help with repairs inside your ship if you will allow it." I start sending him guidance vectors.

 _"Understood."_

I mute my side of the channel. "Keep a constant scan on that ship. Look for self destruct sequences or other means of detonation. I do not want to be caught in any sort of blast."

A few moments later, several ships come out of hyperspace off our starboard side.

"There they are," Sabine said as we looked out at a fleet of black and orange ships.

"They haven't crossed our RZ, have they?" I asked the fire control officer.

"Negative, but they are advancing steadily," the officer replied.

All thanks to an incident a couple weeks ago with an Artemis destroyer, Hera established a mandatory Restricted Zone while on missions. The restricted area mostly depends on what ship in a fleet has the furthest range, which in this case in my fleet is the _Resolute_ , all thanks to our LRACs. We have twice the effective firing range of the Empire's best ships because of these guns.

"Comm, issue a warning to that fleet," Sabine said. "Flight control, I want Rogue Squadron on alert, keep squadrons Red, Gold, and Green on standby."

"Once they cross our RZ line fire a warning shot across their flagship," I say.

"I don't know which one is their flagship, sir..." my XO says.

"Well figure it out... if they cross the RZ and we don't know which ship is their flagship then just fire across any one of them then," I say.

"We should contact Hera and tell her those pirates we were looking for are here," Sabine says.

I nod in agreement. "Comm, notify Central Command that our black and orange pirates are here."

"Already on that, sir," the officer replies.

"The enemy fleet is approaching steadily. Still no response from them on our warning," XO reports.

"How close are they to the RZ line?" I ask.

The XO glances at a datapad in his hands. "At their current speed they will enter our RZ in 10 minutes."

I press a button on my wrist comm. "Repair teams, what's the status of the freighter?"

 _"It's going slow, general, but we are working as fast as we can. There's a lot of damage here and their hyperdrive is also damaged."_

"How long will it take to repair it?"

 _"As it is right now, I would give it 45 minutes to an hour, sir."_

"We don't have an hour. We've got company and they'll be entering our RZ within 10 minutes," I tell the team leader.

"Ezra, we have a reply from Command. They're ordering us to proceed with caution. If they try to run we are to plant a tracker on one of the escaping ships," Sabine tells me.

"Do we have anything that can get close enough to do that?" I ask.

"We've got missiles that can be fitted with all sorts of warheads, general," the XO explains. "We can place a tracker into one of these missiles and once they collide with the hull, the tracker will be set. It would seem like a normal missile detonating on their ship so they shouldn't have suspicions."

"That's a real device? Why haven't I heard about it?" Sabine asks.

"It's something new that Tenith designed. I just had some constructed in our munitions bay," the XO replies.

"Perfect. Maybe we can find at least one of their bases if they have multiple," Sabine says.

"Perhaps maybe we can use one of our destroyers to launch the missiles?" the XO suggested. "We have eight of them with us, half of which are fitted with missile and torpedo tubes."

"And the other four are anti ship?" I asked

"Actually, Ezra, they have a combined fit of ship to ship and anti starfighter weaponry," Sabine corrected me.

It's weird that I know so little about my own destroyers in my own fleet...

"Alright. Sabine, I believe this is your specialty?"

She smiles at me. "Yes sir. You know me."

"Good. I want you to work with the XO, figure out the best formation for our destroyers. I want our capital ships to provide support from the rear, along with our other support ships," I said.

"They're closing on our RZ, general," the tac officer reports. "ETA 5 minutes."

"As soon as they cross, send that warning transmission. If they don't comply, then fire a warning shot across their largest ship," I say, repeating my earlier order.

I look out to the black and orange ships, watching them get closer to us.

A few minutes go by when I see a single shot fly towards the enemy ships, just narrowly missing them by a couple meters.

"Sir, they're holding course... They're still coming," the XO says to me.

"LRACs, target the lead ship. Fire at will," I order.

...

Things started going downhill unexpectedly, and really quickly. At first, things were going well. The first few ships were destroyed before they could get into range, but while we were focused on that fleet, more ships appeared from hyperspace on our port side. And these ships were definitely brand new because they didn't match any other ship in the Galaxy. I had ordered repairs of the civilian freighter to be halted and to transfer all their cargo onboard the Resolute, along with the crew.

"Ezra, we really need to get out of here. They're jamming our communications and we're outnumbered!" Sabine called out to me. "We're taking heavy causalities!"

"I know! All ships jump out. Fighters, don't worry about landing on the Resolute, just get out of here!"

All of our ships started jumping out, but the Resolute started to shake violently, throwing me around the bridge.

"General! We lost our hyperdrive!" my XO shouted.

"Can we get it back online?" I ask.

"Yes, but we'll need more time..."

"Time we don't have..." I sigh.

"We're not getting out of this. Those new ships are...-"

The holo activates and a masked face appears.

 _"General Bridger of the New Rebellion_! _You have been found guilty of destroying our ships and stealing our property! You and your crew shall be exterminated from this Galaxy!"_

"Your ships have been terrorizing innocent civilians for too long! The property you had was stolen and we liberated it," I say firmly.

 _"No! We are the liberators! The tyranny of the Empire today and of your Rebellion tomorrow, should you succeed, shall fall at the hands of the Conglomeration! The true liberators of the galaxy!"_

"And what would your Conglomeration do with the galaxy?" I asked.

 _"You are too far gone to understand our views! Those who do not follow the Conglomeration shall fall at the might of our fleets and armies!"_

"Your Conglomeration is a threat to the rights of every being in the galaxy. Would you kill innocent people if they disagree?"

 _"We are willing to sacrifice anyone who disagrees in order to have peace!"_

"Ezra, what are you up to?" Sabine whispers in my ear.

"Get that hyperdrive repaired," I whisper back to her.

She nods and runs out of the bridge. I turn back to the hologram.

"I don't suppose you could explain to me what the Conglomeration is? At the very least give us a chance to understand," I say.

 _"We cannot talk. We have orders to destroy your Rebellion and nothing is going to change that, so long as our leader demands it!"_

"Can you cut down on the yelling? I can't hear myself think," I say.

 _"You insult us with your casual speaking! I'm trying to be serious here!"_

"I'm not trying to insult anybody. Well... except for the Empire," I say calmly. "And seriously, stop with the yelling. Our comm systems are turned up to their highest volume and we can't turn them down!"

 _"Nonsense! Now, prepare to die!"_

My navigation officer signals to me that our hyperdrive is repaired.

 _"Bridger! You and your crew...!"_

"Are leaving," I interrupt, cutting off the transmission. "Fire our tracker missiles on those ships right before we jump to lightspeed!"

I see a bunch of missiles flying towards the Conglomerate ships, some of them even hitting their targets right before my view was changed from the last exploding missiles to a blue and white swirl.

...

"The tracker is functioning as intended," my Nav officer reports to me. "The enemy fleet is moving, but they aren't in pursuit. We're in the clear."

"Good," I say with a nod. "I'll report this to Hera. In the meantime, we need to get a new ship for these civilians."

"We can't bring them with us to Epsilon," Sabine informs me.

"I know. Where's the location of Quasi Hydra Manufacturers?" I ask.

"It's... right here," Sabine points at a spot on the map of the galaxy. A red dot appears where she pointed.

"How long will it take to get there?"

"About a day and 12 hours," Nav replies.

"Let's get there. Sabine, the bridge is yours," I say, turning to the lift doors from the bridge.

"Where are you going?" she asks me.

"I'm going down to personally greet the captain of that freighter, and to see if they're okay," I reply.

Sabine nods to me and turns her attention back to the holotable.

The lift carries me down to the base of the bridge structure and from there I walk down a few corridors and enter another lift that takes me straight to the crew quarters.

I head to where I have the civilian crew are being detained for everyone's safety. When I enter the room, a man, who I presume to be the captain stands up.

"Sir, can you tell me what's going to happen to us? Can I please speak to General Bridger?" he asks me.

"Are you the captain of that freighter?" I ask.

"Yes, sir... I was anyway... The Gargoyle was home to me and my crew for the past month... I just got it paid off. That my was our first transport job after I did," he said.

"I'm really sorry for your loss, captain," I say, placing a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. "I am General Bridger and the New Rebellion will reimburse you of your ship and supplies that may have been lost. Did everyone in your crew make it out in time?"

"Yes sir. We're all out and we didn't lose any supplies. But without our own ship to deliver these supplies, we won't make it in time to get our pay," he says.

"I understand that. Like I said, we will get you and your crew a new ship. You won't need to pay anything more than you have to, I assure you," I tell him.

"How will you do that?" he asks me.

"We have our ways. Do you have a particular ship you'd prefer?" I ask. "Whatever it is, we can get it for you."

"Anything like my old ship, or better," he says. "Thank you so much, general! We can't thank you enough."

I smile. "Sir, you don't need to thank me just yet. And don't even think about being indebted to us."

He smiles and nods. I shake his hand and return to the bridge.

"That didn't take long," Sabine states, not even looking up from the holotable.

"It didn't. Everybody made it out, along with all their supplies," I say.

"But they won't be able to deliver those supplies," she says. "Which reminds me, even though I have an idea what you're thinking, why are we going to Quasi Hydra?"

"I promised him we'd get him and his crew a new ship. He wants something like the one they just lost or better. You know ships more than I do, what do you think?"

She hums in thought as she pulls up a hologram of the freighter and inspects it. "Well... it was a Barloz-class medium freighter. Not a lot of those nowadays so it was most certainly a valuable ship. The YT-classes replaced this kind of freighter so maybe we can try to get them one of those. But I have heard there's a new freighter that Quasi Hydra Manufacturers released so perhaps we can get them one of those."

"And what class is that?" I ask.

"I believe they're calling it the Hermes-class hauler," she tells me as she pulls up schematics. "It's not your standard freighter design, I'll tell you that."

I look at the four engine pods, two on top and two on bottom, almost like an X-wing's engines, but they're held up on pylons. The entire body of the ship is bulky with what I would assume to be cargo bays and other rooms inside the ship. The cockpit looks to be at the front of the ship like most freighters, but I don't see any way to see out from the inside.

"The entire ship is closed off from space. You can't really see out at all, but looking at the simulations of the interior, there are sensors that allow the crew to navigate flawlessly," Sabine explains. "I don't have all the information here, so we're just going to have to see if Quasi Hydra has some in stock."

"Sounds good to me. Now... I have some reports to write..." I grumble.

"I'll take care of the ship's status report for you. And, since you did say I could command that mission, I will take care of the combat report and fleet status report. The only thing you need to do then, is Wedge's patrol report you never looked at," Sabine says.

"I won't argue against that. Thanks," I say.

...

 **A/N: I'm sorry this took so long to finish. I was stuck with what I was doing with the chapter, not really knowing where I was going with it, so if everything seemed to be jumping around a little too fast, I apologize and will try to do better. If you would like to see the new ships the Conglomeration, the official name of that pirate organization that was terrorizing the Terran population, send me a message on my email icfr0st1real gmail. The next chapter I can show you the new freighter that Ezra is giving the civilians. As a disclaimer beforehand, I do not know where the freighter design originates, nor do I actually own the design. All credit to the creators of any ships that appears in this story.**


	26. Quasi Hydra Manufacturers

**Chapter 26**

 **Location: Hyperspace**

 **System: None**

 **Date: 4 ABY, Month 10, Day 19**

...

 _"Ah, Generals Bridger and Wren! I was just about to call you! I'm assuming you want to know if we have that ship you've ordered?"_

"We do, indeed," Sabine answers before I could.

 _"Lucky for you, we have a few of them fresh out of the assembly line. They're just finishing their final examinations and are about to be put up on the market."_

The guy we're talking to is a Terran engineer. His name is Shay Mirada. He's the guy that owns one of the many stations and buildings for Quasi Hydra Manufacturers. His station builds the civilian ships for the public and armed warships for planetary security forces.

"Good. How soon will they be ready?" I ask.

 _"They are docking with my station as we speak,"_ Mirada tells me.

"Good. You should expect a CR90 arriving in an hour," I say.

 _"Shouldn't I be expecting your star destroyer?"_

"No. Bringing the Resolute to you will bring up suspicion. It would attract too much attention and I don't mean the good kind," I explain.

 _"Right... but wouldn't your corvette also bring up suspicion?"_ he asks.

"Not this one. We've already had it docked and stripped of anything affiliating it with the Rebellion. The crew has already been briefed on a cover story, which is mostly true on its own," Sabine says.

 _"Copy that. One brand new freighter for civilian use, correct?"_

"That's right. One hour," I confirm.

 _"We'll have it ready for your inspection by the time you arrive,"_ Shay says. _"See you then."_

The transmission ends and I turn to Sabine.

"You have the bridge. I'm going to speak with the freighter captain," I tell her.

She nods at me and I leave the bridge.

…

"Captain," I say when I find the freighter captain.

"General Bridger. How can I be of service?"

"I'm just letting you know that we'll be at our destination within the hour. Once we get there you and your crew will be able to inspect the new ship and get acquainted it. You can take as much time as you need to inspect it," I tell him.

The captain smiles, "Great! I'll let my crew know. You said within the hour?"

"That's right. Be ready to go. My crew and I might have to leave before you do since I'm easily recognizable by the Empire."

"That won't be a problem."

…

One hour went by a lot faster than I thought possible. I guess I got so lost staring at the swirling blue and white tunnel walls of hyperspace that time flew by.

" _General Bridger, you're needed in the ventral hangar bay. The corvette Democracy is docked and awaiting your arrival. The civilians are already there."_

I press a button on the comm panel on the wall. "Understood. I'm on my way there."

I make my way down multiple hallways until I find the tubolifts. I take it down to the ventral hangar and find the entire freighter crew waiting for me along with the CR90.

"We ready to go?" I ask them.

"Yes sir, ready and waiting," the freighter captain replies.

"Then let's get going. We're already a little close for comfort so we should make this quick," I say as I walk through the airlock into the corvette.

I get to the bridge of the corvette where I was greeted by the commanding officer of the ship.

"General! We're all ready for your order to depart," the captain says.

"Good. Lose the uniforms. We can't have anything link us to the rebellion in case the Empire shows up."

"Understood, sir."

As soon as we were back in hyperspace, the whole crew started changing into civilian clothes, the last of them finishing right before arriving at the station. We docked with the station and met with Shay.

"Gene-... er, I mean welcome to Quasi Hydra Manufacturer's Gamma Station!" Shay greets us. "Please, take your time to look around. All our ships are fresh off the production line, or no older than a few days."

"We've placed an order for a new freighter. Is it ready?" I asked.

"Ah, yes. You contacted me just earlier about that freighter. I have it just over there in it's docking port. If you will follow me."

He leads us over to the freighter we ordered and the airlock doors open when Shay presses a button on his wrist.

"Feel free to look around and get acquainted with your new ship," Shay says, holding a hand up to the open airlock of the freighter.

"Captain, after you," I say to the civilian captain. He smiles as he leads his crew into the shiny new freighter.

"Advanced shields, hull and armor, and defenses that will deter most attacks from raiders and pirates. Add that to its impressive speed and you're all set," Shay explains.

The captain tours the ship and soon reappears at the airlock. "I like it. Not cramped and there's plenty of space in the cargo hold for everything and still move."

I look at Shay, who seems happy to hear what the captain had to say.

"So would you like the ship?" Shay asks him.

"I would. How soon can we get going?" the captain asks.

"As soon as the payment is complete," Shay replies, looking to me.

"I have authorization from command. The credits are ready," I say.

Shay pulls out a datapad and I complete the transaction, letting the civilian captain sign ownership of the vessel.

Shay then starts whispering to me. "For the security of the cause, the transaction will be documented under civilian orders. The Empire checks completed and pending orders all the time here."

I nod. "Understood. Captain, you know where we are. You can pick up your cargo as soon as you're ready."

I board my ship and order the helmsman to undock before looking out the viewscreen and seeing the new freighter undock from the station and align to the proper hyperspace lane. We jump out first and I soon find myself face to face with the Resolute once again.

"I will never get used to seeing that..." one bridge officer says.

"Yeah. Even though that's our ship I still find it intimidating," another replies in agreement.

I smile softly as we maneuver into docking position with the Resolute on its port side. As soon as we dock, I head up to the bridge.

"General on deck!" Sabine shouts and the entire bridge crew stand at attention.

I sigh, lightly annoyed. "At ease."

Everyone shuffles around, getting back to work.

"Status report, Sabine?" I ask her.

She holds a hand over her shoulder as the XO walks by and he smoothly hands one to her without slowing down. She looks at the pad and begins reading.

"We've detected several Imperial ships coming and going to and around the station while you were there. Three Star Destroyers, four command cruisers, over a dozen transports, and one shuttle. Comms are quite, no alerts or distress beacons. We are running silent right now but that will change as soon as we get moving again," she reports.

"Running silent...? I didn't think our ship had stealth..."

"We don't," she says. "But we've shut down non-essential systems and brought others to lower power to avoid detection."

"Right... well, power everything up. We've got a freighter coming to pick up their cargo," I say.

"Aye aye, sir," Sabine teases, pressing the pad to my chest and walks away.

There's no way I can forget that look in her eyes, the tone of her voice, and that smirk she gave me as she did that. It was almost as if she was attempting seduction.

Blood rushed to my face as I thought about it, but I shook my head, blocking out those thoughts for the moment.

 _Easy Ezra. Don't get any ideas. We can't focus on that stuff right now..._

...

It wasn't long until that freighter arrived and started unloading their cargo from our hold. I held my breath until they finally jumped to hyperspace since it was only a matter of time before the Empire detected our ship being so close to populated systems. Sabine ordered the fleet to jump to wild space for the time being until we figured out where we were needed.

I went to the rear section of the bridge where the holo table is and I started poking around the live feed in the holonet, looking for any information of pirate attacks or reports of rebel activity in other sectors.

I sense somebody walking up and standing next to me. I don't even need to concentrate to sense her presence anymore. She's all too familiar to me. And too important to lose.

"Finding anything interesting?" She asks me.

"Nothing so far. And we have to maintain comm silence until we're further towards the outer rim..." I reply.

"Well I think we should go back to base for repairs... We took a beating during the battle with the Conglomeration."

"Yeah... You're definitely right. Who knows how long our hyperdrive will stay active with the patch work we did," I say.

"Want me to set a course?" Sabine asks me.

"Yeah. Once we're far enough from Imperial ears send a transmission to Hera, too. Let her know what's up."

Sabine nods. I glance at her and catch her staring at me. She quickly looks towards the holonet and pretends to search through it.

I smile softly and stand up straight after leaning over the console for a little too long.

"Alright, I'm heading to my quarters. Comm me if you need me, I need to get some rest," I tell her.

"Will do. I might stop by and visit later, too, if that's okay," she replies.

"If you'd like, feel free to."

I head to the turbolift and take it to the crew deck. When I finally get to my room, I pull off my shirt and stretch a bit before taking a quick shower. After my shower I get dressed in more comfortable clothes and sit on my bed, reading all sorts of fleet reports from various ships in my fleet. I start feeling a bit tired so I lie on my back and keep reading reports, though before I realize it, my vision goes dark.

…

I sense somebody next to me and I wake up, not even wondering who it is, but why she's here. I open my eyes to see Sabine sleeping next to me, her hand on my chest and her head on my shoulder. I feel blood rushing to my face again as I notice she's wearing her skin tight body suit from her Mandalorian armor. I've noticed she's been wearing it a little less now which concerns me, but as much as I try to think about her armor, I quickly get distracted at what she has on now.

"Sabine...?" I whisper to her, trying to wake her carefully.

She groans sleepily. "No... I'm happy here..."

"But... what are you doing on me?" I ask her quietly.

"What do you think? I'm sleeping... or trying to anyway..."

She curls an arm around me and pulls herself closer. I can feel her chest pressed up against my side as she settles down again, sighing with a sleepy satisfaction.

"You're very comfortable... for a Jedi," she teases. She looks into my eyes, her own filled with longing.

"What are you thinking about, Bean?" I ask her softly.

"I don't know... I just feel like something bad is going to happen..." she replies.

"Like what...?"

"I don't know... but whatever it is, it feels close... I don't want to lose another chance," she says.

"Another chance?"

She shuffles until her legs are on both sides of me. My face burns a little as she takes my hands and places them on her hips.

"Sabine..."

"Just relax, Ez..." she coos. She starts moving her hips forward and back, slowly. "You asked me what I was thinking... I'll tell you."

She leans forward until I feel her breath on my ear, hot and steady.

"I love you, Ezra. We've talked about this before but I'm saying it now."

My face burns a little hotter. "Sabine... I don't know... I mean, this..."

She frowns at me.

"Don't get me wrong, I... I kind of like this... but you know how I feel about you..." I explain.

"I know you love me back," she says.

I pause a moment, trying to collect my thoughts.

"I do, Sabine. I really do. But something as intimate as this, I don't know if I..."

"You really do... what?" she asks me, her tone sounding a bit more hopeful.

"Sabine..."

"I want to hear it."

She pushes her hips forward again and my eyes close a little. "I love you..."

I can't tell you how bright her smile got after that. She wasn't forcing me to say it, no, she wouldn't force me to do anything unless what I was doing was hurting her or the people she cares about. She was just encouraging me, letting me know it's okay.

She cuddles up to me again and kisses my cheek softly. "On our own time... understand?"

I nod. "Of course."

…

 _"I'll get a repair crew ready for your arrival. While the repairs are underway I want you two to report to the command center for debriefing,"_ Hera tells us through the holotable.

We had just entered intergalactic space and on our final jump to Epsilon so we have a couple hours to spare before we arrive. Our damage crews keep updating our report logs and the condition of the hyperdrive keeps getting worse and worse. How much damage we took to the hyperdrive is unknown, but we should be able to find out once we get to Epsilon station and get everything shut down for the repairs.

"Yes, ma'am," Sabine and I reply at the same time.

The transmission ends and I look at Sabine.

"How long do you think the repairs will take?" I ask her.

"I don't know... we can't see the full extent of the damage, but I feel like it'll take some time. Not much longer than usual, at least," she replies.

"Yeah, but our usual tends to involve the entire ship. This is the hyperdrive on it's own."

"True... What I want to know, is what hit us so hard to knock out our hyperdrive so easily. Our shields were up, weren't they?" she asks.

"I thought they were... I'm sure they were. Nothing energy-based could do that..."

"Are you saying it was some sort of projectile? Like a slug round?" the XO asks.

"I'm just assuming it could be anything," I said.

"Well you're right about one thing..." Sabine begins. "Nothing energy based could shake us like it did. It had to have been a projectile."

"There's only one way to know for sure. We just need to keep the ship intact long enough to find out," I say.

"Do you want me in engineering to help?" Sabine asks me then.

"No... I need you here on the bridge. Keep the fleet on alert. If our hyperdrive fails would we be able to bring the backup online?"

"I'm not sure. The backup doesn't seem to have been damaged anywhere near as much as our main, but who knows what could happen. Even that was knocked out for a moment during that battle," Sabine replies.

"Let's just hope it doesn't come to that," the XO says.

…

"General, we're approaching the Epsilon system, but the damage to the hyperdrive is going to make our arrival very rough," the XO reports to me, just two hours after our previous conversation.

I nod and signal for a ship-wide transmission. The comm officer nods to me and I begin talking.

"All hands, brace for hyperspace exit. I repeat, all hands brace."

The bridge crew secures themselves to their seats and brace. Anybody who's standing holds onto something on the walls such as handholds or consoles. Sabine braces herself against the wall and I brace against the holo table. Moments later, the ship begins to shake, but only slightly. At first I thought we overestimated the roughness of our arrival, but that thought was quickly shattered as we exited hyperspace. The entire ship seemed to creak and shake, many people on the bridge even falling over consoles. I kept myself steady at the holotable until the ship finally stopped moving. Normally, it would be a smooth transition from hyperspace into normal space. However, because the hyperdrive was heavily damaged, when the ship finished its exit and stopped, I was thrown over the holotable, bashing my face into it as I flipped over it. It felt like an eternity, but only a moment had passed and everybody was up and about again. I was pulled to my feet by Sabine and she looked at my face, which felt like it was on fire.

"Yup... nose broken," she says.

"I would imagine it is since I face planted into the holotable," I growl.

That was a bad idea. Talking made my face explode with pain.

"Don't talk," Sabine orders. "Somebody get me a medkit!"

An officer runs up and hands her one and she starts working on my nose. First, she applies a bacta spray which soothes the pain immensely. Then she puts her fingers on the bridge of my nose and I hear a really loud crack. The pain was back in an instant.

"OW!"

"Oh stop whining, you big baby," Sabine teases as she applies a bacta strip over my nose. The pain dies down as it's slowly replaced by a cold, tingling sensation.

"You know broken bones aren't any fun," I mutter. I grab a cloth and wipe up some of the blood flowing from my nose, which Sabine didn't even bother to clean up for me while fixing my nose.

She smirks at me before Hera appears at the holotable.

 _"Ezra, Sabine, is everyone okay?"_

"We're fine, Hera," Sabine replies. "Ezra has a broken nose after getting tossed over the table."

"Laugh all you want, it's easy for you since you had the wall," I mutter.

"And you took the table. That was on you," she states.

 _"Alright you two, enough arguing,"_ Hera says. _"I'm sending some tug ships over to help you dock. I want a damage report asap."_

"Understood," I say as the transmission cuts out.

I look out towards the front of the ship and see four tug ships flying towards us.

"I want fighters to begin their standard patrols," I call out. "Port and starboard hangar bays only. Let's not use up any more power on the ventral doors."

Sabine looks at the XO and nods at him. He nods back and starts calling out the order to the flight control officers. Sabine grabs my arm and drags me into the turbolift.

"Now what are you doing?" I ask her, still holding my nose.

"I'm taking you to medical to get your nose looked at," she replies.

She starts digging into a small pouch on her belt and pulls out a container of bacta spray. She sprays a little on my nose, which started tingling immediately. It didn't take long for the cool liquid to dull the pain but I knew I'll need a little more than that to fix my nose.


End file.
